Dark x Wizard x Hunter
by Mrs.InsaneOne
Summary: Guilt over the part she played in Sirius's death at the end of her fifth year sends Harriet A. Potter on a quest for the strength to fulfill the prophecy that Dumbledore sprang upon her after the DoM fiasco. Features Fem!Harry, Fem!Dudley, and Male!Hermione. Pairing is HP/KK
1. Ticket x to x Nowhere

**Summary:** _Guilt over the part she played in Sirius's death at the end of her fifth year sends Harriet A. Potter on a quest for the strength to fulfill the prophecy that Dumbledore sprang upon her after the DoM fiasco. Features Fem!Harry, Fem!Dudley, and Male!Hermione. Pairing is HP/KK_

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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><p><span><strong>Dark x Wizard x Hunter<br>**Chapter One: Ticket x to x Nowhere

Harriet Azalea Potter, better known as Azalea to those she called friends, stared unseeingly out the car window as her uncle drove them home. Her thoughts twisted round and round as they endlessly chased a single fleeting thought; _neither can live while the other survives._ Kill or be killed; that was what her entire life boiled down to. She had to kill Voldemort or Voldemort would kill her. Of course, Voldemort wouldn't stop at just killing Azalea; no, the Dark Lord would kill anyone that got in his way as well as killing anyone that didn't match up to his twisted standards. The soon to be sixteen year old witch was drawn out of her introspection at that point by the loud, whiny voice of her cousin.

"But daaad, I want to be a Hunter," Dahlia whined with a petulance that Azalea hadn't heard in years. "I want to travel the world looking for treasure and be famous! Couch Steiner said I have a real chance at passing the exam! I could get all the extra boxing training I needed for free once I get my Hunter's License."

"Absolutely not! No daughter of mine will be mixed up with those lawless heathens! Unnatural, I tell you, gallivanting all over the world living on the tax-payer's dollar and chasing after fairy tales! Why, they'd take advantage of you in a heartbeat and ruin you completely! There are days when I wonder how on earth I let that man talk me into allowing my little princess to participate in a sport as violent as boxing but I have to draw the line somewhere. My answer is; no. End of discussion."

"Couch Steiner already booked me passage to the exam site and the boat leaves tomorrow morning from Portsmouth; I'm already packed."

"I said no! You'll not be going. It's bad enough we we're saddled with one freak in the family; I'll not let anyone turn my daughter into a second."

Azalea tuned out the rest of the argument and sat back in her seat, her mind running a mile a minute as she remembered the long ago dream she'd had to be a Hunter; to travel the world searching for the elusive unknown. She'd buried that dream when she'd learned about her magic thinking that she'd found something even better. Now, she wished she'd stuck to her original goals; maybe then she would not have gotten her godfather and Cedric killed and the rest of her friends seriously injured.

'_Training,_' Azalea thought as her vibrant emerald eyes returned to watching the passing scenery once more. '_I could use some serious training; free or not. Dumbledore isn't going to give it to me though, despite what he promised the other day; I could see it in his eyes. If he was truly going to train me, he'd have started training me years ago. If anything, the old goat plans to sit me down and tell me all about Voldemort's tragic past over crumpets and tea in order for me to better understand my enemy and feel sorry for him instead of teaching me how to kick his arse. No, if I want any real training, then I'll have to get it myself; just like I've always done._'

Azalea sat up straighter as she realized she'd just been given the perfect opportunity to recapture her childhood dream and get herself the training she needed to defeat Voldemort. All she had to do was convince Dahlia to part with her boarding pass and then she could go in her cousin's place to take the Hunter's Exam. Better yet, if she could steal the boarding pass out from under her cousin's nose, then Dahlia would think Uncle Vernon had taken the boarding pass and thrown it out. All she had to do was avoid getting caught taking the boarding pass and then she'd be gone in a heartbeat and free to get the training she needed.

Thoughts of Ron Weasley, Horatio Granger, and Ginny Weasley (her best friends) crowded into Azalea's mind at that point and she felt a rush of sadness, regret, and guilt pour through her as she recalled how seriously they'd been injured all because she hadn't listened to Horatio. She should have known he was right; he was always right. Instead, she had to be her usual pigheaded self and she'd dragged them all into a dangerous trap that had nearly killed Ron and Horatio and seriously injured Ginny, Neville Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood (the latter being a relatively new friend that she'd made during the previous school term).

As much as she wanted all of her friends by her side, she knew she couldn't drag them into potentially worse danger than she already had; it wouldn't be fair to them or their families.

Once they arrived home, Azalea carried her things up to her room and promptly locked herself inside of her room before she dumped out the contents of her trunk onto her bed. She then began carefully sorting through everything in order to figure out what she needed and what she could leave behind. All of her robes were folded up and tucked back into the trunk; she would have no use for them in the muggle world her winter cloak was set aside since it was normal enough looking that no one would question her using it. The hand knitted sweaters Mrs. Weasley had given her and the bulk of her hand-me-down clothes were also packed back into her trunk.

Her invisibility cloak, the Marauder's Map, her Firebolt, the exquisite ruby jewelry set that Sirius had given her on her fifteenth birthday (because she didn't dare leave something that valuable behind), the photo album Hagrid had given her in her first year, and the shards of the two-way mirror she'd broken a few days earlier were quickly set aside to take as well (the shards carefully tucked into a sock in the hopes she might be able to repair the mirror at some point). Next she carefully sorted through the books she'd purchased or been given through the years; carefully choosing only those that would be useful (such as _Practical Defensive Magic and its Use Against the Dark Arts_ that Sirius and Remus had given her for Christmas this past year).

The only other equipment that Azalea kept from her school supplies was her silver potions knife, her writing supplies, and her book bag; the rest of it pretty useless outside of class in Azalea's mind. The last thing Azalea tucked into her old trunk was Hedwig's cage, after letting the owl out. Azalea then locked the trunk and dragged it back downstairs where she was soon cornered by her suspicious uncle.

"What are you doing then, girl?"

"I wanted to lock up my trunk," Azalea stated politely as she gestured towards the piece of luggage in question. "I know you don't feel comfortable with my things out in the open and I thought I'd save you a trip up to my room and the usual fight and bring it down myself this time."

"Why would you do that? What are you planning?"

Azalea did some fast thinking as she stood there; she knew that she'd only make things worse if she said the wrong thing. She thought again of the boarding pass that Dahlia had been given and she recalled what her uncle had said about one freak in the family being more than enough. Nodding her head slowly, Azalea offered her uncle the truth and crossed her fingers that it wouldn't get her locked in her room for the rest of the summer.

"I'm leaving. I need to be trained and the adults like me aren't going to help me," Azalea stated as she steadily met her uncle's gaze. "You don't want Dahlia to enter the Hunter Exams and I need to. If you give me her boarding pass, it will solve all of our problems; I'll be out of your hair for the rest of the summer, Dahlia won't be able to sneak off in the middle of the night, and I'll be getting the training I need. If the wizards show up looking for me, you can tell them the truth; that I left to train of my own free will."

Uncle Vernon glared at Azalea for a full five minutes before he pursed his lips and muttered, "Deal. I'll get you the damn boarding pass right now but you better find your own way to the boat."

"Not a problem, I'll leave just as soon as I finish packing the things I'll need to take with me."

Azalea didn't wait around to see her uncle toss her trunk into the cupboard under the stairs as she hurried back up to finish her packing. Ten minutes later, her uncle handed her the boarding pass while Dahlia glared down at them from the stairs. Azalea thanked her uncle before she slipped her invisibility cloak on over her winter cloak (the witch wearing the bulky garment because there hadn't been room for it in her bag) and slipped out the backdoor. As she slipped out of the backyard, she prayed that Mad-eye wasn't on Potter Watch for the evening since he would easily see through Azalea's cloak. Hedwig had been sent on ahead so she wouldn't draw any attention to her and so the owl wouldn't have to suffer through a trip on the Knight Bus.

She walked through the streets for an hour and constantly checked her back trail for anyone following her before she determined that she'd gone far enough. Pulling off her cloak, she tucked it under her shirt and pulled up the hood on her winter cloak in order to hide her face so that she wouldn't be recognized as she brought out her wand and summoned the Knight Bus. The triple tiered purple bus appeared with a loud bang two minutes later and Azalea climbed up inside after paying the eleven sickle fare; her first destination, Diagon Alley.

The ride was as jarring as it had been the first time she rode the magically enhanced bus just before her third year and Azalea nearly kissed the ground in relief when she stepped down off the nightmarish mode of transportation. She'd never understand why most forms of magical travel had to be vomit-inducing; flying brooms the only notable exception she'd encountered to date. Shaking off her nausea, Azalea entered the Leaky Cauldron and made her way through to the alley out back so she could open the entrance to Diagon Alley.

Her first stop was Gringotts where she withdrew three thousand galleons and exchanged two thousand of it for pounds sterling. She ended up signing several documents the moment the goblins had recognized her through her vault key and promptly informed her that her godfather had left her everything upon his death. That had been a hard blow to Azalea's already bruised heart but she soldiered through it. She then promptly shoved her loss to the back of her mind as she made out a will of her own to keep that money out of Death Eater hands in the event that she died (either during the Hunter's Exam or later when she faced Voldemort).

Her next stop had been the luggage store to purchase a larger book bag because her things barely fit inside of the book bag she had and she still wanted to buy some foodstuffs and ready made healing potions to have on hand. She ended up paying for her current book bag to be upgraded with several nifty charms instead of buying a new one; an undetectable Extension Charm (so the bag would hold far more), an Impervius Charm (to make the bag waterproof), an Indestructible Charm (to prevent the bag from being damaged), a Featherweight Charm (so weight would not be an issue), and an Anti-Theft Charm to prevent anyone from stealing anything out of her bag.

Azalea had then visited a handful of other stores to purchase a few more books with useful spells (including a rare tome on wandless magic from a junk shop), a Home Healer's Kit (the wizarding equivalent of a first aide kit), a penknife that was exactly like the one Sirius had given her (which she had first ruined and subsequently lost in the Department of Mysteries), basic camping supplies, a used one-bedroom magical tent (fully furnished), and a fully stocked magical stasis box (for the tent). After a short internal debate, the young witch purchased several changes of clothes from the men's section of a second hand robe shop (ones that could pass for muggle wear and that were layered with an assortment of spells that made them more comfortable and more durable) so that she could pass herself off as a boy in order to avoid unwanted attention from unscrupulous men.

Next she bought a dragon-hide cloak that would provide better protection than her old winter cloak, two pairs of dragon-hide gloves, and a pair of dragon-hide boots (all of them made from the skin of a Hungarian Horntail). She also stocked up on owl treats, bottled water, butterbeer, pumpkin juice, healthy snacks, plenty of fresh ingredients so she could cook for herself when needed, and tons of wizarding candy. Her last stop of the day was the future location of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes where she was given a ton of prank supplies after Fred and George wheedled her plans out of her the moment they discovered her peering through the windows of their newly rented shop.

That was when Azalea learned that no known witch or wizard had ever before taken and passed the Hunter's Exam; the identical wizards telling her that magicals feared Hunters almost as much as they feared dark lords because the Hunters were known to hunt magicals. Azalea was a little skeptical about the validity of their claim but thanked them for the warning. The two of them then swore an oath not to betray her plans to anyone and promised to watch over the others (Ron, Horatio, Ginny, Luna, and Neville) for her while she was gone. The two of them also wished her good luck and let her know that the Trace on all underage magicals could not track her or any magic she performed once she was fifty feet out from the shore.

Supplies set, Azalea changed into a set of her new clothes before she headed to Kings Cross Station on foot in order to catch a train down to Portsmouth; the fifteen year old witch having no desire to take the Knight Bus a second time in one night. She made only one stop on the way to the train station, and that was to buy a black leather fedora that had caught her attention as she walked passed a hat store. A glance in the mirror on her way out of the store had Azalea thinking that all she needed was a pair of pistols slung around her waist and she'd look like a cowboy straight out of the American Old West or an Indiana Jones look-a-like if she had a whip and stood eight or ten inches taller.

She was wearing a pair of tan canvas pants, a black t-shirt under a red cotton dress shirt with the top three buttons undone (her undersized breasts bound flat with tightly wrapped bandages in order to hide them), and her new boots. She wore her new dragon-hide cloak unbuttoned overtop of that and the way it hung down to the middle of her calves and framed her slender frame made it look more like an old fashioned leather trench coat. The sleeves of the cloak were extra long so that they easily covered the back of both hands and therefore hid the scars on the back of her right hand from sight.

Lastly, the hat helped hide both her hair (which was cut short because her aunt couldn't stand the fact that Azalea's hair was thick and luxuriant while Dahlia's was thin and stringy) and her scar in addition to shading her eyes and making it harder to see what color they were. All it all, her new outfit made her look distinctly male and far older than she was despite the fact that she was still so short.

Chuckling to herself over her silent comparisons to one of television's greatest action heroes, Azalea hurried on her way to the train station and soon found herself ensconced on a passenger train headed south to Hampshire and ultimately, Portsmouth. In her pocket was the boarding pass that she prayed would set her on the path to finding the skills she knew she would need in order to defeat Voldemort once and for all.

Several hours later, Azalea was walking through the darkened ship yard looking for the dock listed on the boarding pass in her hand; hoping and praying that this hadn't just been one huge joke by the Dursleys in an effort to make her look like a buffoon. She was beginning to grow frustrated when she finally found her ship. As she stared up at the ancient looking wooden vessel, she wondered if it would really carry her to the location of the Hunter's Exam or if it would sink half way there. Azalea tilted her head to one side as she reconsidered her first impression of the ship; her mind recalling the slightly decrepit state of the Durmstrang's ship during her fourth year (though that ship had had magic to offset it's unseaworthy appearance).

Seeing that the gang plank had been withdrawn for the night (it was well after midnight after all), Azalea settled herself on top of a few shipping crates that were stacked on the dock beside the ship and, after carefully scanning the area to make certain that there was no one watching her, she pulled her invisibility cloak over her in order to prevent anyone from noticing her. She then closed her eyes to get a few hours of rest while she waited for the sun to rise.

It was the sound of a heavy wooden gang plank slamming down onto the dock that woke Azalea early the next morning and the teenaged witch nearly fell off her temporary perch into the water when she jerked upright. She took a moment to calm her racing heart before she glanced upwards to see an old man with the bulbous red nose of a career alcoholic, a white bristle beard and mustache that covered half of his face, and a pipe with a smoking cigarette stuffed in the bowl in one hand. The man was wearing gray pants, a red vest trimmed with black and white checkers over a white canvas shirt with a bronze stripe around the neckline, and a captain's hat.

Azalea studied him for a minute longer before she slipped off to an out of the way corner of the dock to remove her invisibility cloak where no one would see her appearing out of thin air. She then boldly walked up to the gang plank and fished her second hand boarding pass out of her pocket as she walked right up to the man that she assumed was the captain of the ship. Trying not to show her nervousness, Azalea waited patiently as the man scrutinized both her and the boarding pass before giving her permission to board the ship. Azalea politely thanked the man and made her way onto the deck.

The teen spent another two hours curiously exploring the ship while doing her best not to get in the way of the crew; this being her first time on a ship (the row boats she'd ridden in on a couple of occasions not counting). During that time, another twelve people bound for the Hunter's Exam boarded the ship and Azalea studied them from the corner of her eye. They were her competition, after all, and they were potential obstacles in the path of her goal; to become a Hunter so that she could find the strength to destroy Voldemort.

Just before they set sail, one of the other passengers asked the captain where they were headed and how long it would take them to get there. The captain had laughingly replied that their destination was everywhere and nowhere and that it would take months to get there. The ornery old seaman then warned them that it was not to late to abandon ship if the unknown frightened them.

Azalea clenched her jaw tightly and pressed her lips tightly together as she stared out at the open sea while the crew laughed and jeered at the other now nervous passengers. She wouldn't give up; not now, not ever, and not for any reason.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>_For those of you who don't follow my Author's Page, the reason I was not posting as promised was due to another hard drive failure; this time it was my main drive that crashed on me and not my document drive; so I didn't not lose anything but a chapter worth of edit's that I had made. During the time I was without internet (because the old XP drive I snagged from my husband's old PC had a conniption fit over my on board Ethernet, video card, & sound card), I at least was able to edit stuff and write a bit more; so I've got tons of chapters that are ready to be posted._

_I meant to start posting just as soon as I was back online but I had thousands of e-mails I needed to get through, bookmarks to recapture, and a dozen and one other things that just had to be done (like updating my Firefox dictionary so it would stop telling me I was spelling everything wrong; that was annoying). From this point forward, I will endeavor to post the minimum one chapter per day that I had previously promised as soon as I finish setting up all of my settings and whatnot that were lost when my drive crashed; that includes digging out all of my program discs so that I can reinstall the rest of my programs. As before, the story being updated will vary from day to day._

_Lastly, I want to thank everyone who read, reviewed, favorited, and followed this story and the other new ones I recently posted. And while I've not finished reading all of the reviews I've received because I just haven't had the time, I do appreciate each and every one. I will try to go back and respond or at least read them just as soon as I have time. ~ Jenn_


	2. Storms x and x Saviors

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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><p><span>Chapter Two: Storms x and x Saviors<span>

The captain had not lied when he said that their destination was everywhere; they'd docked at various ports all over the world picking up more passengers and dropping off those that lost their nerve (or their patience). Hedwig had found her on her second day out to sea and she'd sent her off with a message for the Order to let them know she was safe and that she'd left her relatives' house of her own free will. Just before she sent her off, she told the snowy owl that she was free to stay at the Burrow or at Hogwarts until Azalea returned or that she could return to her if she wanted to stay with Azalea. Hedwig returned to her side a week and a half later and rarely ever left her shoulder as the ship steadily plowed through the water on its way to its next destination.

They'd been traveling around the world to gather those interested in taking the Hunter's Exam for a little over six months when the captain announced that they were getting close to their final destination. In fact, there were only two more scheduled stops before they arrived at their final destination; one to pick up the last of the prospective entrants before they headed to the island where the exam was being held this year and one to drop off those that would not be taking the exam. It was good news for Azalea.

She'd been growing antsy ever since September first had come and gone; the guilt she felt over abandoning her friends hitting her hard the moment she realized that the Hogwarts Express had left Kings Cross Station without her.

She'd buried herself in the books she'd brought with her (their covers and titles carefully hidden beneath homemade parchment book covers) in order to not think about those she'd left behind and to train herself as best she could while trapped on a boat with dozens of unruly and highly suspicious muggles (most of whom were male). When she wasn't working on increasing her repertoire of spells, Azalea was either helping the crew tend to various tasks or perched up in the crow's nest of the ship staring out over the ocean while Hedwig either sat on her shoulder or hovered nearby to stretch her wings.

A few of the other exam hopefuls had tried to intimidate her (thinking her an easy target because she was so short) but they soon gave up when all they got from her was a blank look; few of the applicants were anywhere near as intimidating as any of the Death Eaters that Azalea had faced. Those that didn't get the hint were introduced to the business end of her wand and promptly made to forget all about her the moment she finished wiping the floor with them; though she left them with the remembered pain of a Stinging Hex or ten.

On the eighteenth of December, the ship docked at Whale Island (the final port of call where they'd be taking on additional passengers) and Azalea couldn't help but admire the beauty of the small island; an island that she'd never before heard of until a week earlier. It was that same day that Azalea first saw the kid that would soon drag her onto the path that would have a large impact on her life and her future; though she didn't know that yet.

The kid had bounded onto the boat with blatant enthusiasm as he waved to those down on the docks and loudly swore that he'd pass the Hunter's Exam and become the best Hunter ever as they left the island behind. Most of the adults on board that were looking to enter the exam scoffed at that but the gutsy kid wasn't in the least bit fazed as he turned his eyes on those that were lounging around the deck. He soon forgot those that were trying to intimidate him as he rushed to aide a deck hand that had spilled a crate of apples; making a friend in the process.

As she watched the boy toss apples into the crate, Azalea took a moment to study the kid; taking in his long spiked green and black hair and intelligent brown eyes that burned with open determination. He was wearing green shorts, a white undershirt, and a green jacket with dark green and orange accents while on his back he carried a brown and tan rucksack with a fishing pole strapped to the side of the pack. He didn't really look like anyone special but Azalea could sense there was more to the boy than meets the eye but before she could allow her curiosity to take hold of her, she ruthlessly shoved it aside so that she would not lose track of her goals; become a Hunter, grow stronger, and defeat Voldemort.

The kid surprised Azalea a few minutes later when he proclaimed a terrible storm brewing; informing the captain that the seagulls were crying about the storm and that he could smell the storm and Azalea had little trouble believing him due to Hedwig growing antsy (the white owl in no way fond of sea storms). When the storm finally did hit, it hit hard and fast; leaving the bulk of the passengers seasick and Azalea silently helped the crew tend to the seasick passengers alongside of the kid while Hedwig clung to the rafters in the hold.

After the first few days, when there was a small lull in the storm, the captain called a small group of them up to the helm of the ship to speak with them; Azalea and the kid were both included in this group as was a blond haired teen and a tall man that Azalea thought was probably in his mid to late twenties. Azalea sighed and shoved her hands into her pockets of her dueling cloak as she fell into place beside the tall man at the end of the short line, silently grumbling about her lack of height as she was right about the same height as the kid and that was only if you discounted the kid's spiky hair.

"First, tell me your names," the captain ordered the moment they were all lined up.

"I'm Gon!" the kid proclaimed as he waved his arm in the air.

"Leorio," the tall man stated.

"Kurapika," was the blond's response.

Azalea said nothing since the captain already knew her name (or at least the man knew the name Azalea had given him months earlier). The other three individuals weren't aware of that fact though and they turned to face her expectantly as they waited for her to introduce herself. The moment it was clear that she wasn't going to speak up, Leorio opened his mouth to ask her for her name but the captain began speaking once more before he got the chance.

"Why do you want to become Hunters?" the captain demanded.

Leorio immediately refused to answer while Kurapika stated his reasons were far too personal; Gon on the other hand promptly declared that his father was a Hunter and that he desired to find him. Azalea didn't even get a chance to answer due to Leorio badgering the kid for answering the question. The captain quickly put a stop to the ruckus as he told one of his crew members to inform the examination board that there were three more drop outs (Azalea being disqualified by default since she hadn't had the chance to speak up over the tall man's rant). Leorio protested once more and the captain revealed that he was allowed to weed out the unfit in order to save the examiners the trouble of dealing with the trash.

That sobered up the loud mouthed man and Gon quickly rubbed it in the man's face while Kurapika reluctantly revealed that he was looking to avenge his family and needed the resources that were available to Hunters in order to hunt down those responsible. Leorio picked a bit of a fight with Kurapika over his reasons for wanting to become a Hunter but his attention was quickly diverted by Gon asking him why he wanted to become a hunter. When the man admitted that he was simply in it for the money, Azalea couldn't help but let out a soft snort of disgust as it sounded much like Dahlia's reason for wishing to become a Hunter.

"And you? Why do you want to be a Hunter?" Gon inquired as dashed around Leorio in order to stand in front of Azalea.

"I don't have a choice," Azalea murmured after a moment as the sound of Trelawney's raspy voice delivering her doom rang in her ears while the visage of Voldemort filled her mind's eye. Shoving the prophecy and the dark lord out of her mind, she clenched her jaw in anger as she added, "Fate and a madman marked my path long before I was born and failure is not an option I am willing to accept because I refuse to allow the sacrifices of others to become meaningless."

An awkward silence fell over the room as the captain scrutinized Azalea once again while the other three Hunter hopefuls each took the time to assess her for themselves. Out of the three of them, only Kurapika seemed to understand what she had left unspoken in regards to her reason for seeking to become a Hunter; the blond's reasons were not all that different from Azalea's, after all, even if she'd not given them any details. Leorio scoffed after a few minutes and made light of Azalea's response which for some reason irritated Kurapika (who'd already been irritated with Leorio) and the two of them stormed outside to settle their differences while Azalea just shook her head in bemusement; she didn't care what the others thought of her reasons.

"Hey, hey, who are you?" Gon inquired as he tugged on Azalea's cloak to get the witch's attention.

"Me? I'm nobody important," Azalea quipped with a humorless grin as she turned to leave the room.

Gon opened his mouth to reply but whatever he was going to say was cut off by a yell from the sailor manning the helm as a waterspout began forming on the sea in front of them; the storm had turned deadly once more. The captain was quick to hand out a bevy of orders and the crew began rushing about in a desperate attempt to bring the sails down. Gon was quick to offer his help and Azalea silently followed suit; the witch having learned enough about sailing during the months she'd been on the ship to lend a hand. She caught a brief glimpse of Kurapika and Leorio facing off against one another on the deck before she focused her attention entirely on hauling in the sails.

The wind tore at the sails and water washed over the deck as the ship was tossed about like a cork in a punch bowl and Azalea constantly fired weak wandless sticking charms on the feet of the sailors around her to prevent them from being swept over board. She couldn't reach all of the sailors though and the clumsy crewman that Gon had befriended during the short amount of time he was on the ship was sent overboard by a wave of water as the rope was torn from his hands. Azalea cursed under her breath as she turned her head sideways in time to see the deck hand sailing over the side of the ship with Gon diving head first after him.

Pulling out her wand, Azalea fired two sticking charms at Kurapika and Leorio (both of whom had tried to save the deck hand) and used a levitation charm catch hold of the sailor to prevent him from hitting the water while Gon grabbed hold of the deck hand's arms. Azalea felt her shoulders sag as she watched Kurapika and Leorio grab hold of Gon's ankles and drag both the kid and the deck hand back onto the deck of the ship. Canceling her spells once the four of them were safe, Azalea slipped her wand back into her shirt sleeve and casually glanced around to make certain that no one had seen her using it; unaware that the captain had witnessed the entire thing from the helm.

The storm petered out just a few hours after that and while the crew went about cleaning up the deck and repairing the worst of the damage that had been done by the storm, Azalea discreetly watched Kurapika and Leorio lecture Gon about his reckless behavior. Azalea chuckled under her breath because the scene brought to mind the many lectures that Horatio had given her about her own reckless behavior. She then heard the deck hand they'd saved thank Gon for saving his life and Gon unhesitatingly gave an equal share of the credit to the other two entrants and Azalea smiled briefly over the knowledge that the part she'd played had remained unnoticed; the witch grateful that her involvement had been unremarked upon.

_The kid would have been a shoe-in for Gryffindor if he'd been born a wizard,_ Azalea silently mused as a wave of sadness filled her at the sharp reminder of her absent friends.

Turning her back on the trio, Azalea stared out over the ocean as Hedwig settled onto her shoulder once more now that there was no danger of her getting swept out to sea by the storm. The intelligent owl nuzzled her cheek affectionately; a silent offer of comfort as if Hedwig knew exactly what was bothering her. She had no idea how long she'd been standing there when the captain appeared on the deck and announced that he was delivering the four of them to the island where the test was being held. Apparently, all four of them had passed whatever test it was that he'd been giving them.

Azalea got the sneaking suspicion that the man knew more than he was letting on when he shot Azalea a knowing look before disappearing back into his cabin. It made the witch wonder if she had actually been caught using her wand to help save the sailor that had gone overboard. If that was the case, she hoped that the man wouldn't pass that knowledge along to the Hunter Examination Board; she didn't want to be disqualified outright on the grounds that she was a witch or worse, killed as she recalled Fred and George's insistence that Hunters hunted magicals.

Unsettled, Azalea made her way up to the crow's nest where she would spend the rest of the trip avoiding the other passengers and the majority of the crew. There were a few times when Gon joined her up there and while Azalea did her best to ignore the chatty child, she didn't chase him off; the kid's happy chatter reminding her of happier days. Azalea sometimes felt guilty for ignoring the kid but she wasn't taking the Hunter Exam to make friends; she had a duty to perform and anything else came second.

Azalea often suspected that Gon took her aloofness as a challenge and the triumphant grin the kid gave each time he drew a response from Azalea only seemed to reinforce that impression. He'd been especially happy when she finally, grudgingly, gave him the alias she'd chosen to use.

Their first stop after the storm was to drop off those that had not made the captain's cut and to purchase supplies that would see them to their final destination. While they were in port, Azalea mailed off a several letters to let those back home know that she was alright and that she was still training hard; something she'd done at each stop they'd made along the way. She had not received any replies in return but that was not unexpected due to the fact that it would be difficult for any owls to find her out at sea and she hadn't really stayed in one place since the night she'd left. In the letter she sent to the twins, she let the pair know that she'd passed the preliminary exam alongside three others (out of the seventy-some entrants that had been on board the ship at the time) and that she didn't know when she'd next be able to write.

December thirtieth saw the ship docking at Dolle Harbor, the closest port to the exam site, and the captain wished all four of them luck as they made their way off of the vessel. Azalea paused at the top of the gangplank in order to send Hedwig off to hunt. She then turned back to stare out over the ocean as she sent up one last prayer to the heavens that she hadn't made a huge mistake when she chose to abandon the wizarding world in favor of becoming a Hunter just so she could face the Dark Lord on more even footing. Shaking her head, knowing it was too late to turn back now; Azalea swung back around and made her way down to the dock.

"I owe you my thanks for protecting my crew during the storm," the captain quietly declared as Azalea stepped down off of the gangplank.

"Uh… I don't know what you're talking about," Azalea protested as she broke out in a cold sweat.

"Have it your way, lad, but you and I both know it takes more than will power to make shoes stick to a wet deck during a violent storm. You have your reasons for not drawing attention to yourself and I can respect that but I'd advise you to be extra careful during the exam; there are some that won't take kindly to discovering one of your kind here. Remember, very few Hunters are saints and the smallest mistake will mean death."

"I understand," Azalea replied after a moment. "And thank you, for everything."

Azalea glanced up at the ship that she'd lived on for the past six months one last time before she headed into the city in order to find out where she was supposed to go next. She hadn't gotten very far when she overheard a couple of exam hopefuls loudly discussing the bus that was supposed to take the entrants to Zaban City where the exam was to be held this year. Azalea frowned as she heard them joking about how the bus was actually a trap and that those that boarded the bus never made it to the test. She didn't know if the pair was just trying to scare any other entrants that overheard them or if they were telling the truth though.

Not wanting to take a chance that she'd never reach her destination, Azalea hunted for a map of the island so she could figure out which way she'd need to fly and how far she'd have to go to reach the city by broom instead. She was more than a little surprised to stumble upon her former fellow passengers arguing in front of the map. Azalea quickly decided that she'd come back later, not wanting to get involved with their argument, and had just turned around to walk away when she was spotted by Gon. The kid wasted no time in hollering out her alias and the next thing she knew the kid had her by the sleeve and was dragging her over to where the other two were standing in front of the map.

"Not that gloomy guy again," Leorio muttered as he scowled at Azalea. "I thought we'd seen the last of him once we stepped off the boat."

"James isn't gloomy! He's just shy. He's really funny too!" Gon insisted and Azalea bit back a sigh as she stuffed her hands in her pockets and glanced up at the map; part of her immensely thankful that her disguise was working like a charm. "So, what do you know about where we need to go? The captain told me to head to the cedar because it was a shortcut to the exam but Leorio insists we need to head to Zaban City."

"There is a bus heading to Zaban City and if we don't hurry we'll miss it," Leorio pointed out. "Heading to the cedar would take us miles out of our way."

"The bus is a potential trap; those that climb on it supposedly never reach the city," Azalea stated as she frowned at the map and noted the location of the cedar when compared to their supposed destination. "The cedar does seem like it is out of the way but the captain is an honest man."

"Come on then!" Gon insisted as he grabbed hold of Azalea's sleeve once more and began dragging her off in the direction of the cedar, leaving the other two to follow along or go their own way.

"Any particular reason why you feel the need to drag me along?" Azalea asked after ten minutes had passed and Gon still showed no signs of releasing her.

"Oh, sorry, I just wanted to make sure you didn't get left behind since you always seem to be the last one to arrive for everything," Gon cheerfully apologized as he let go of Azalea's sleeve and dropped back so he was walking beside the witch. "I suppose I should have asked you if you wanted to come with me but it looked like you weren't sure of where you wanted to go anyway so I just thought you'd like to have the company."

"Hmm," Azalea hummed in response, unsure how to reply without hurting the kid's feelings since Azalea actually would have preferred to have been left on her own. There was less of a chance that someone else would get hurt because of something she did that way and she could have used magic to make her way to Zaban City. It also would be much easier maintaining her gender-swapping ruse if she wasn't constantly in the company of the same group of individuals.

"See! What did I tell you? Mr. Doom and Gloom! Barely says five words unless he is forced into it and even then half of what he says is a dire proclamation," Leorio declared as he and Kurapika caught up to the pair of them.

"You sound like a petulant toddler who has just been told that it's naptime," Azalea drawled as she pulled her hat down lower to shade her eyes. Kurapika and Gon both laughed while Leorio spluttered indignantly over the insult. Azalea then stopped walking and glanced up at the taller man and quietly stated, "Maybe it would be best if I leave; I don't want to create tension amongst the three of you when it seems like you all get along fairly well while it is obvious that I'm not exactly wanted."

"Don't go, James; we all want you to stay, don't we?" Gon demanded as he latched onto Azalea's sleeve again while staring intently up at Leorio with a determined glare.

"But… bu… he's… alright, fine, we don't mind you tagging along," Leorio muttered as he crossed his arms and turned away from Gon's intense gaze. "I was just blowing steam anyway."

"It is safer to travel in a group," Kurapika added with a shrug.

"See, let's hurry now; we don't want to be late and miss our chance!"

Azalea sighed and resigned herself to being dragged along again as Gon once more forgot to let go of her sleeve and as she trotted alongside the enthusiastic kid, Azalea wondered if this was how Horatio had felt each time she and Ron had dragged him off on another adventure. Guilt weighed down on Azalea but she didn't let it break her resolve; she needed to be stronger if she ever hoped to face Voldemort on equal footing.

They'd been walking for a couple of hours when Gon broke the silence once more, "Say, where'd your pretty little owl go? I haven't seen her since we got to the island."

"Hedwig? She's off hunting."

"Why did you bring an owl with you, if you don't mind me asking?" Kurapika inquired as he fell into step beside Azalea, the blond's curiosity easily apparent.

"She refused to be left behind."

"She told me that she considers you her chick. She also said that she didn't trust you to take care of yourself because you always get into too much trouble when she's not around to watch over you," Gon declared as he let go of Azalea's sleeve and dashed forward so he could turn around and face Azalea as he walked backwards in order to better see Azalea's face as they walked.

Azalea blinked at the smiling twelve year old; uncertain of what to make of his declaration regarding Hedwig and the way the snowy owl sees her (the witch easily accepting that the kid could understand owls because of her ability to understand snakes). After a minute, Azalea gave the kid a small smile in return before she glanced upwards to search the sky for any sign of her owl as she murmured, "She's been a friend and a confidant for five years now. Hearing she thinks of me as her offspring isn't all that surprising; she's always mothered me every chance she got."

Gon laughed and smiled even wider and Azalea practically groaned when she realized that she'd just lost another point to the stubborn kid in the battle of wills they been engaging in from the moment the captain had called the four of them together to determine if they had earned the chance to take the exam. Azalea feared that she was steadily losing the battle of wills to keep the friendly little bugger at arms length. It didn't help that Gon was bound and determined to draw her out as well as keep her as part of their group.

At least she wouldn't have to worry about being bored throughout any portion of the Hunter Exam if Gon stuck to her side; the kid sure kept things interesting.


	3. Trials x and x Tribulation

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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><p><span>Chapter Three: Trials x and x Tribulation<span>

They walked for another hour before they reached the town through which they needed travel to reach the cedar. Azalea felt uneasy from the moment they'd entered the town as she could feel eyes watching her despite the fact that the town appeared to be deserted. They'd just turned down yet another narrow street when Leorio stopped to complain about how creepy and empty the place felt and Gon was quick to correct his assumption that the town was deserted.

Leorio was just about to start another argument when a pair of doors to one side of them split open and disgorged a troop of individuals wearing long white robs and strange masks. Two of them pulled a strange cart on which sat an old woman while the rest of the robed people carried instruments and a raven. It took them but a moment to block off the small street and Azalea took two steps backwards and twisted to the side as she slipped her wand out of her sleeve and held it ready just out of sight as she kept watch on their back trail in case this was a trap.

The old woman cackled as she caught sight of her defensive stance and Azalea felt a spike of rage as the sound sharply reminded her of Bellatrix's insane laughter the night the woman had killed Sirius. She let out a hissing growl that startled Kurapika, who'd been standing closest to her, and let her eyes search the entire street (including the rooftops) for any sign of potential attackers.

"Exciting!" the old woman crowed and Azalea froze before slowly turning her head to the side just enough that she could peer at the woman with one eye while she kept an eye on their street behind them with her other eye.

"Exciting?" Leorio parroted back in confusion.

Twice more the woman and Leorio repeated the same word and Azalea was barely suppressing the urge to hex them both until their ears bled, if only to get them to shut up. Finally, the woman seemed to get to the point; in order to pass, they had to answer her question correctly. It was basically just another preliminary test in order to see if they were worthy of taking the actual exam and Azalea was getting frustrated with all of the delays; she'd been waiting for over six months to take the stupid Exam already. Before the old woman could relay the question they were to answer, a man stepped out of the shadows from behind them and Azalea, already on edge, hit him with a silent Full Body-Bind Curse and dropped him like a rock.

"Wow! I didn't even see you move, James! That was so cool, how did you do that? Did you know that he was following us all this time as well?" Gon asked in rapid fire succession as he bounded over to the man now lying prone on his back to toe him with one foot then leaned down to poke him in the cheek with a finger several times before he darted back to Azalea's side. "Amazing! He's still awake but he's solid as a rock and unable to move a muscle! What did you do to him? Can you teach me how to do that?"

"Sorry, old family secret," Azalea replied as she discreetly tucked her wand back up into her sleeve and glanced up at the old woman that was now watching her closely.

"Are the four of you ready to take your quiz now?" the old woman demanded as she glanced away from Azalea to study the other three individuals; all of them nodded with varying degrees of nervousness. "Good. There is only one question and only one correct answer. The answer will be either the number one or the number two; any other answers will be considered incorrect and you will be disqualified."

"What!?" Leorio bellowed and Azalea couldn't help but think the man was going to give himself a heart attack if he kept getting stressed out by every little thing.

While Leorio complained about the unfairness of all four of them having to rely upon only one of them answering their single question, since a wrong answer by one person would see them all disqualified, Azalea approached the man she'd knocked down and knelt beside him. A quick check showed that no one was paying her any attention at the moment, and Azalea used the opportunity given to knock the man out cold with a point blank Stunning Spell. She then wiped his memory of the last twenty minutes; the memory spell something she'd practiced extensively during the past six months whenever one of the other entrants had gotten a bit pushy during the voyage and she'd been forced to defend herself using her magic or suffer a beating (or worse if they discovered her true gender).

Azalea then returned to the others just in time to hear the woman's question, "Evil villains have captured your wife and son. You can only save one. Select one for your wife or two for your son. Which one will you save? You have five seconds in which to answer."

"The answer is number one," Azalea replied making the others jump since they'd pretty much forgotten that she was there because she'd not spoken up during the earlier argument.

"Really? Why?" the woman asked with a small smirk.

"Never play by the villain's rules; you will fail because their rules are meant to make you fail. Besides, you addressed the question to all four of us and two of us could easily rescue the first person while the other two rescued the second," Azalea stated simply as she jerked her thumb in the direction of the other three applicants.

"That was not the answer I was looking for nor was it the answer that I was expecting," the woman stated as she propped her chin on her interlaced fingers and gazed intently at Azalea for a long minute, a measure of respect filling her eyes. "It is also not an answer most people would immediately consider regardless of how large or small of a group they are in."

"So… uh, did we pass or fail?" Leorio asked in confusion as he glanced between the hag and Azalea.

"You… Pass!"

"What!? But there is no right answer!" Kurapika protested. "Giving any answer should have disqualified us…"

"You are correct in that the quiz was designed to have no true correct answer because how do you place one life above another? But your trigger happy friend here was also correct in that the enemy will always work against you and that there is strength in numbers. The four of you entered my quiz as a group and he took that into consideration before he gave his answer and in doing so, he found a way to get around the limitations of the situation. You will not always find yourselves in situations where the right answers are easy to see; you will need to learn to rely upon your instincts or the instincts of your friends, if you plan to stick together. That is the way of the world… and of a Hunter."

The doors that the woman and her entourage had poured forth from were reopened at that point by two of the masked individuals and the woman gestured towards the long tunnel revealed on the other side of the doors as she stated, "This tunnel will take you directly to the old cedar; it will take you two hours to reach the top and there you will find a couple living beneath the tree. They serve as navigators and will guide you to the exam; if they find you worthy."

Gon was the first one to dart off into the tunnel, calling out a fond farewell while Kurapika and Leorio followed behind him at a more sedate pace. Azalea hesitated a moment before she trailed after them, only to stop and turn back when the old woman called out to her.

"There was a valuable lesson to be learned in the quiz and you figured out one of the few true answers and displayed wisdom beyond your age. Do not lose sight of that wisdom as you continue on your quest least you fall and leave the rest of the world to shoulder the consequences of that failure. It is not a shortcoming to admit that you can not do it alone."

"Who are you and how did you know…?"

"I am just an old woman who spends her time reading people and any one with a pair of eyes and a working brain can see the burden you bear on your shoulders. Go. Beat them at their own game. Come see me again when you have earned your license and finished your personal quest if you still wish to talk to an old woman."

The witch stared at her for another minute before she was pulled from her confusion by the sound of Gon loudly calling her alias. Azalea nodded politely (if a little stiffly) to the old woman before she slipped into the tunnel after the others; her thoughts scattering off in a hundred directions as she trotted onwards towards the next trial. As she caught up to the others, Azalea pushed the woman's words about not facing her burdens alone to the back of her mind as she recalled what always happened to those that got dragged into her messes with her as she once again saw her godfather falling through the veil, her friends falling one by one to Death Eater curses, and Cedric dying in a flash of green light.

No matter how much easier it would be to share her burden with another, she couldn't and wouldn't allow others to help her least they be harmed because she was too weak.

The frown on her face must have worried Gon as the younger boy dashed back around the others so that he could once again walk backwards in front of Azalea, "Is there something wrong?"

The delinquent witch (she was skiving off of school after all) simply shook her head no in response as she focused her attention on the dark tunnel through which they were traveling. She missed seeing the brief hurt look and stubborn pout that flashed across Gon's face before it was replaced with determination or she would have felt a small measure of guilt over snubbing the younger boy. As it was, Azalea was too busy brooding to notice until she interrupted by the return of Hedwig as the owl flew up from behind her, dropped down to steal her hat, and took off towards the end of the tunnel as fast as she could fly.

"Hedwig!" Azalea cried as she immediately gave chase to the fast disappearing owl.

"Oy, wait up for the rest of us! Not you too, Gon! What, Kurapika; you as well!?" Leorio cried indignantly as Gon and Kurapika both quickly caught up to Azalea.

Azalea ignored the two running beside her as she focused completely on Hedwig's pale form. She was actually far more worried than she was angry since the owl normally wouldn't have taken off with her hat out of the blue like that unless there was a reason she needed her to follow her. Six minutes later, the three of them burst out of the tunnel and Azalea paused just long enough to locate Hedwig's form in the fading afternoon light before she was off and running again; jumping over or dodging around the various obstacles that sprang up in her path instinctively (much like she had when she was younger and running from Dahlia and the local gang of bullies when they were in the mood for a round of 'Harriet Hunting').

They didn't actually catch up to Hedwig until they reached the end of the trail just as the sun was beginning to set and Azalea slowed to a walk as she approached the sign where the snowy owl was perched; it read 'Beware of Magical Beasts' and Azalea tensed as she carefully approached. Hedwig barked at her once before she spun her head around to glare up towards the house that was sitting beneath just a few meters up the trail. As she stopped beneath her familiar's perch and leaned down to pick up her hat, she let her eyes search the growing shadows as a sense of uneasiness filled her along with the uncomfortable feeling that she was once again being watched (her heart wildly pounding in fear over the use of the word 'magical' on the sign).

"That was unexpectedly fun," Gon declared as he bounded up to Azalea's side; his eyes shining brightly in the setting sun as he flashed a grin at Azalea. "Does she always play games like that?"

"No, she wasn't playing," Azalea countered softly as she dusted her hat off and settled it back on her head.

"Why didn't you wait for me?" Leorio complained as he staggered up to them sweating and panting like crazy.

"Not our fault that you're out of shape, old man," Azalea quipped back as she briefly glanced at the taller man before she returned to her attention to the deceptively empty house.

"Oy! Who are you calling old, midget! I'll have you know I'm still a teenager. At least I'm out of diapers; how old are you anyway? Eight? Nine?"

"Sixteen," Azalea quietly corrected as she scowled at Leorio for a moment; her lack of height a rather sore subject since it was something she'd been picked on about all of her life and a direct result of her less than pleasant life with the Dursleys. Sure, they never abused her outright but they also hadn't really fed her properly and living inside of a rather cramped closet for ten years hadn't exactly done her any favors.

"Really?" Kurapika exclaimed with some surprise. "Up until your owl stole your hat earlier, I would have said you were in your early to mid twenties because of how you carry yourself and after that I thought that you were maybe fourteen at most but likely a year or two younger."

"Yes," Azalea replied with a shrug as she stuffed her hands in her pocket and headed towards the house sitting beneath the giant cedar; the others quickly falling into step behind her as Hedwig launched into the air and circled the four of them for a moment before settling down onto her left shoulder. "I've always been short and scrawny for my age. As for the rest…? I had to grow up really fast."

"I can relate."

Azalea nodded; recalling the reason the blond had given for wanting to become a Hunter. In that sense, Azalea had a lot more in common with the blond than she would have originally thought and it made it easier in some ways to relate to the other teen. Unlike Ron, Horatio, and Ginny, Kurapika could understand what it felt like to be an orphan, to have lost everything because of a group of evil men that would stop at nothing to get what they wanted.

"Hello? Anyone home?" Leorio called out as he knocked on the door as the four of them came to a stop on the front porch of the house that was built against the towering tree.

"Something isn't right," Azalea muttered as the taller teen rattled the handle and the door swung open with an eerie creak. "You guys check inside, I'm going to take a look around out here."

"Be careful, James," Gon urged as he followed the other two inside.

Azalea waved off the boy's concerns and dug into her book bag to grab her invisibility cloak as Hedwig took to the air once more. Seconds later, she was ghosting along unseen outside of the house looking for signs of an attack or an ambush. She heard a scream and several yells followed by the sound of crashing glass and she dashed around to the back of the house where the commotion had originated in time to see a golden blur take off into the trees with Kurapika and Gon both in hot pursuit. A glance inside of the broken window revealed Leorio tending to a bleeding man lying on the floor.

Pressing her lips together, Azalea used her wand to search the immediate area for any sign that there was anyone or anything else lying in weight to ambush them. She was confused when the detection spell told her that there was only one human present aside from herself and it took her a full minute to realize that that meant that Leorio was in the house alone with another of the strange creatures that had taken off into the forest. Cursing under her breath, Azalea slipped in through the broken window and crept up to where Leorio was treating the imposter.

The moment she got within a few feet of the pair, the creature wearing a human's face stiffened and glanced in her direction and Azalea knew it had somehow sensed or possibly heard her. Removing her invisibility cloak in the blink of an eye with a practiced swipe of her left hand, Azalea held her wand like a knife and jabbed it under the chin of the imposter and hissed out a tight, "Don't move a single muscle or I will give you a personalized invitation to join the headless hunt."

"Ahh!" Leorio cried out in shock as the taller man sprang backwards at the unexpected appearance of the green eyed teen. The moment he realized that she was threatening the man he'd just been treating had him quickly recovering his aplomb as he demanded, "What are you doing, James!? Why are you threatening my patient?"

"He's not human, Leorio," Azalea explained as she kept her focus on the man on the floor. "His wounds are superficial; if he'd really been attacked by the creature I saw fleeing into the woods out the back, he'd have been far more seriously injured. Since there are no other humans within a twenty mile radius that leaves two possible scenarios; either this being is part of the test the navigators are giving us to see if we are worthy of their services or the navigators were themselves killed by this being and others like him."

"How do I know you aren't the imposter trying to trick me?" Leorio demanded shrewdly as he glanced between Azalea and the suddenly nervous man on the floor.

"Simple, I knew you by name and your name has been the only one not mentioned since we left Dolle Harbor; meaning no one could have overheard your name to address you as such."

"Ah ha… I guess that is you, Mr. Doom and Gloom."

"And that means our friend here has a lot of explaining to do, isn't that right?" Azalea declared as she gave the victim turned captive a feral grin.

Twenty minutes later, the four would be Hunters were standing outside of the house with the four magical creatures as they introduced themselves and explained that they were the navigators that they had been sent to find. Three of the Kiriko then gave a short verbal assessment for each of them (with the one that had posed as the injured husband giving an assessment for both Azalea and Leorio). Kurapika passed because of his vast knowledge of obscure facts, Gon passed because of his superhuman physical ability and his powers of observation, Leorio passed because of the skill and care with which he treated the 'injured husband' and his kindness, and Azalea passed because of her use of logic and quick thinking in determining the truth of the situation.

When it came time for them to be taken to the exam's location there was a bit of an issue since Leorio was too heavy for just one of the Kiriko to carry and there were only four of them. Azalea solved the problem by telling them she would follow along behind them under her own power; much to the confusion of everyone else. She watched the group take off first, the Kiriko unfolding wing-like membranes from beneath their arms as they took to the air, before she pulled out her broom and cast a disillusionment charm over both the broom and herself (her cloak too hard to keep pulled over her body while flying). In no time at all, she'd caught up with the family of four and her three fellow Hunter hopefuls, though only the four Kiriko were able to sense her presence (they had all glanced back in her direction the moment she caught up).

They landed on the outskirts of Zaban City a few hours later and three of the Kiriko left right away after bidding the quartet farewell while the fourth remained to guide them the rest of the way to their destination. Azalea dropped the disillusionment charm she was wearing the moment she touched down beside Leorio but left her broom covered in the spell (in case she needed to use the broom again in the presence of muggles) and tucked the Firebolt back into her book bag to free up her hands. Her three short-term companions all jumped in shock at her sudden reappearance and Azalea couldn't resist snickering silently to herself at the looks on their faces.

"Would you quit doing that!?" Leorio exclaimed as he clutched at his heart.

"Were you just invisible? How did you do that!?" Gon eagerly asked as he bounced on his toes. "And how did you get here so fast? Did you really fly? Is that another family secret or can you teach someone else how to do it too?"

"Sorry, old family secret," Azalea replied with some embarrassment as she prayed that the Ministry of Magic wouldn't lock her up due to how many times she'd used magic in front of muggles over the past six months. Then again, Fred and George might have been telling the truth when they informed her that the Ministry of Magic couldn't track magic outside of Britain (she'd not received any owls about underage magic, after all); something that made her life much easier.

"No fair!"

Azalea just shrugged and tried not to notice the pout on Gon's face. Kurapika gave her a calculating look that was filled with traces of both curiosity and suspicion but he at least said nothing. Leorio, on the other hand, was far too busy muttering complaints under his breath about punk teens trying to give him a heart attack to question her little tricks.

"Come on, we still have a ways to go," their navigator advised as he began heading into the city.

"We should stop and grab something to eat," Kurapika suggested to the others as they all hurried after their guide. "We don't know when we'll have another opportunity to buy food."

Azalea shrugged her shoulders as it didn't matter to her either way; she could always fix herself something later since she hadn't touched her supplies yet (her meals had been provided by the ship's crew during the long months they'd been sailing). Once inside of the town, they moved fairly quickly through the mostly empty streets until they reached a small family run café that was still open where they ordered supper. As they ate, their guide regaled them with rumors, stories, and facts about Zaban City.

All too soon, they were on the move again after a brief debate on whether they should find a place to crash for the rest of the night or push on towards their destination. They all agreed to push on since they didn't know if there was a deadline for entrants to arrive at the testing sight. It took them another three hours to reach the place where everyone was gathering and Azalea was the only one not surprised to learn that the gathering place was through a slightly run down looking restaurant.

She felt slightly nostalgic as the others stepped inside the place and she paused on the threshold to glance up at the sky; her thoughts automatically turning to the Leaky Cauldron, home, and her friends. Just before she entered, Hedwig swooped down and gracefully reclaimed her perch on her shoulder.

"Right on time as usual, beautiful," Azalea murmured as she reached into her pocket and fished out an owl treat for the owl.

"Hey, can't you read? The sign says no pets allowed!"

"I suppose it's a good thing my companion is not a pet then," Azalea retorted as she glanced disdainfully towards the woman that had just complained about Hedwig's presence.

By the time she returned her attention to their guide, the Kiriko had given the password to the chef behind the counter and signaled for the four of them to follow him towards the back room. Once they were inside, their guide said his farewells and offered to be their navigator the next year when they took the exams a second time; the young Kiriko obviously expecting them to fail (not because they weren't capable but because rookies only passed the test about once every three years). The moment the door closed, the room they were in gave a great lurch and began sinking; they'd actually been led to an elevator.

Hedwig gave a discontent hoot before settling down to nap on Azalea's shoulder as the witch dropped down into one of the chairs provided in order to get off her feet for a few minutes. Her rear had barely made contact with the chair before Leorio and Kurapika got into an argument over whether or not the most important reason for being a Hunter was to get rich or to make the world a better place. As the two of them argued back and forth across the table, Azalea caught a look of confused resignation on Gon's face; the poor kid half caught between the bickering pair. Thankfully, before the two older teens could demand that Gon or Azalea settle their fight, the elevator arrived at the bottom floor and the doors opened to reveal an underground room filled with hundreds of applicants.

Azalea suppressed a shiver as the subterranean chamber sharply reminded her of the Chamber of Secrets (only with far more people present and far less mold) and prayed she'd not have to face any giant snakes with deadly eyes and deadlier fangs; one basilisk per lifetime was more than enough, thank you very much.

Gon made only one attempt to greet the other applicants with a friendly hello before he gave up due to their cold demeanors and glares. Just seconds later, Kurapika noted that the applicants sharing the underground room with them were on a whole different level than the one's they'd met on the docks and in the city. Azalea silently wished that she'd donned her father's invisibility cloak prior to stepping out of the elevator as the rising level of tension filling the room made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

"Welcome to the two hundred eighty-seventh Hunter's Examination, please take a number," a voice ordered and Azalea spun around to see a short green person holding out a round disk with the number three-fifty-four printed across it to Leorio. "Be sure to wear your badge on your chest at all times," the man (being?) instructed as he passed number three-fifty-five to Kurapika, three-fifty-six to Gon, and number three-fifty-seven to Azalea. "Please take care not to lose it."

"I haven't seen the four of you here before," a voice called down to them from up on the pipes that ran along the wall near the ceiling.

Azalea glanced up and immediately felt a shiver race down her back; the short fat man her eyes had landed on distinctly reminded her of Delores Umbridge. While the other three walked closer, Azalea held her ground and crossed her arms as she observed the deceptively friendly man; the witch mistrustful of his intentions due to the similarities between the man and one of her least favorite professors. Learning that this was the man's thirty-fifth attempt at taking the Hunter Exam only emphasized that the man was up to no good. The man introduced himself as Tonpa and Gon was quick to introduce himself and the others in return; surprisingly leaving out Azalea's alias since she was standing off to one side (much to Azalea's relief).

Before Tonpa could bring any attention to Azalea, Gon was asking the man if he knew if there were others present like him that had taken the exam several times. As the fat man pointed out the various veterans (providing names, strengths, weaknesses, and a quirk or two), Azalea took the time to observe the veteran applicant more closely. The witch took special note of the man's facial expressions, body language, and tone of voice as he introduced the other applicants. She also noted the way the man's eyes turned predatory each time he glanced at three he was supposedly helping.

_Just as I suspected, he's up to something,_ Azalea thought to herself as she narrowed her eyes and let her gaze drift to the other people in the room; noting the way a few small groups were whispering and laughing as they glanced towards the three that were listening avidly to Tonpa's droning. _There's definitely something up with that guy; somehow, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that he's actually related to Umbridge in some way._

When Azalea returned her gaze back to Tonpa and the three boys she'd been traveling with, it was to see Tonpa handing the three drinks from out of his bag. She pressed her lips together as she watched the four of them toast to good luck before Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika raised the cans to take a drink while Tonpa just smirked over the top of his unopened can. Needing to stop them without alerting Tonpa to the fact that she was onto him, Azalea flicked a wandless banishing charm at Leorio and pushed the taller man into Gon who in turn bumped into Kurapika. All three of them crashed to the floor in a tangle of arms and legs at that point while the drinks they'd been about to ingest crashed to the floor where their contents harmlessly spilled out onto the cement floor.

The look of shocked disbelief and frustration on Tonpa's face made Azalea smirk before she wiped the expression from her face. The witch then decided that it was time to intervene on a more visible level as she strode over and gave Gon a hand up.

"Are the three of you alright?" Azalea asked in a low voice as she gave Kurapika a hand up next while Gon helped Leorio.

"I'll end up with a bruise or two but otherwise I'm fine," Kurapika stated once he was one his feet.

"I'm just fine… only injured my pride," Leorio muttered as he brushed off the juice that had spilled all over his suit. "My fist would love to meet the jerk that shoved me though."

"I'm sorry to have wasted the juice you gave me," Gon contritely murmured as he glanced up at the still shocked Tonpa.

"I have bottled water if you are still thirsty," Azalea stated as she brought her book bag around and dug out several bottles of water and diligently handed a bottle to each of her travel companions and kept one for herself before she addressed the man she now silently referred to in her mind as Umbridge's brother. "Would you like one as well? Oh, never mind, I see your juice is still unopened; so at least you didn't spill yours too."

"Who the hell are you?" Tonpa demanded as he finally snapped out of his shock and confusion.

"Me?" Azalea asked in mock surprise. "I'm surprised you didn't already know since you seem to know so much about everyone else here."

"That doesn't tell me who you are."

"Don't worry, I'm nobody important," Azalea stated flatly as she pulled her fedora down low to throw half her face deeper into the shadows while the light that glinted off of her glasses made her look rather menacing.

Any reply Tonpa might have given was cut off by a cry from further in the room and all five of them turned to see a man's arms dissolving into flower petals. Standing a few feet away, watching the scene with a smirk, a man dressed like a harlequin patronizingly declared that it was wise to apologize when you bump into other people.

"It looks like that psychopath is back again," Tonpa declared with a trace of worry. "If you were smart the lot of you would do well to stay away from number forty-four; that's Hisoka, the magician."

Azalea tensed and took hold of her wand as she discreetly stepped behind Leorio to prevent the newly named Hisoka from catching sight of her. Needing to know whether or not the man was truly a wizard, the young witch not willing to rely upon appearances alone, Azalea crouched down and cast a spell directly at the floor. The spell was called the Wandering Wizard Ward as any magical (even a squib) that crossed over the area the spell was cast upon would leave behind glowing red footsteps that only the caster could see and it was typically used to track trespassers. Azalea spread the spell out far enough that everyone in the room would step on the affected area at least once.

She then tucked her wand back into her sleeve as she watched the floor intently. She quickly noted that none of those standing within ten feet of her had any magic; including Gon. The moment the man named Hisoka finally moved away from the man he'd attacked, Azalea's eyes tracked his footsteps for a full five minutes just to make certain that the man didn't leave behind a single glowing footprint; proof that the man was not a true wizard, he just had some magic-like tricks. Azalea then sagged back against Leorio in relief without realizing it as the anxiety she'd felt over hearing the man openly being called a magician fled with the knowledge that the man wasn't even a squib.

"Oy, Mr. Doom and Gloom, are you alright?" Leorio asked as he frowned over his shoulder at the unexpected, if slight, weight of Azalea collapsing against him.

"Just peachy, Mr. Loud and Obnoxious," Azalea replied as she sat down on the ground and pressed her face to her knees; ignoring the way the frames of her glasses cut into her cheeks and the bridge of her nose as a result.

"What happened to Tonpa?" Gon inquired as he glanced around and noticed the little fat man had disappeared.

"I suppose that he slunk off with his tail between his legs when he failed to poison the three of you with the juice he'd so nicely shared with you," Azalea muttered as she rolled her head to the side and half knocked both her glasses and hat from her head. "By the way, Leorio, I owe you an apology, I was the one that bumped into you earlier. I didn't feel right with just letting the three of you get sick from whatever nasty trick he was playing though."

"How can you be sure that he meant us harm?"

"You mean aside from the fact that he freely admitted he'd failed the Hunter's Exam thirty-four times, was friendly with a group of rookies, and the other veterans were sneaking glances and smirking in your direction the entire time he was talking to you? Call it a hunch; he reminded me far too much of a rather nasty toad that I had the misfortune of dealing with on a near daily basis for a full year. If you doubt my word, you can always bag what is left in the juice cans he passed to you and have it tested later."

"No, your word is good enough for me," Leorio declared much to Azalea's surprise. "You've been pretty honest with us so far and there's nothing you can gain by lying to us now. How much of the information he gave us about the other veterans can be trusted?"

"Probably most of it; he was bragging after all. He was not faking his fear of number forty-four either."

"Why did you call yourself no one important when Tonpa asked who you were?" Kurapika asked as he crouched down beside Azalea.

"You called yourself that the first time I asked you what your name was too," Gon pointed out with a slight frown before Azalea could answer.

"It's a rather long story and while I might one day be willing to trust the three of you with the bare bones of the tale, I don't really know you and you don't know me. I also don't trust the other ears that are currently eavesdropping on our conversation. Ask me again when our privacy can be guaranteed and I'll consider telling you what I can."

"Fair enough," Leorio allowed as he reached down to shake Azalea's hand before pulling the witch up onto her feet. "For now we should probably find ourselves a place to kick back and get a little rest since it looks like we might be here for a while yet."

The four of them moved back to an unoccupied corner of the room and spent the next eight hours taking two hour cat naps in groups of two so that each of them got some rest and they didn't leave themselves open to an attack. During that time, roughly another fifty applicants turned up to join the restless crowd; all four of them silently watching Tonpa as he diligently greeted each of the rookies and tempted them with his supply of tainted juices.

At the end of the eighth hour, Azalea dug into her supplies and liberated several pieces of fruit, some pumpkin pasties, and a few cauldron cakes that she shared with the others for their breakfast as well as more water; not sure if they'd be interested in having the pumpkin juice or not. More than a few of the other participants watched them enviously as they ate the small feast since only a handful of individuals had thought to pack edible supplies for the duration of the exam.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>_Okay, I just wanted to clarify one point before a Canon stickler pointed out the fact that I gave Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika the wrong numbers. First, the time they spent in front of the quiz lady was halved because my Harry/Azalea knocked the other dude out of the Exam. They saved even more time when Hedwig instigated the chase because they didn't walk the entire way to the cedar and so got to Zaban City earlier than in Canon. And that is why they had lower numbers. ~ Jenn_


	4. Comrades x in x Motion

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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><p><span>Chapter Four: Comrades x in x Motion<span>

Three hours after the last handful of applicants entered the area, a funny sounding buzzer began sounding and the moment it cut off, a dull rumble filled the room as the stone wall opposite of the elevator entrance began rising up into the ceiling. Standing behind the moving wall, was an odd looking man with short purple hair that flared out slightly at the bottom, a thin dark brown mustache that curled up at the ends, and no apparent mouth.

Azalea couldn't decide if the new guy was weirder looking than the little green man that had handed out the badges or not. Shaking away her musings, Azalea focused on what the man was saying as he explained that the entrance period for new applicants had ended and that the exam had officially started (though how he could talk with no mouth was a complete mystery to the petite witch).

"Who are you?" one of the applicants demanded once the man had finished his short speech.

"I am Satotz, the Phase One Examiner; you must follow me to reach Phase Two. This is the exam's First Phase," the mouthless man stated as he turned away from the group and began walking away from them.

Just a few minutes after that, the man started moving faster, forcing everyone to start running in order to keep up with him. After the first three hours of running, Azalea just knew that she wasn't going to be able to keep up the current pace for much longer. Sure, she wasn't exactly out of shape but at the same time her past five years at Hogwarts hadn't given her very many chances of staying in shape (Quidditch practice, as fun as it was, didn't really exercise very many of the core muscle groups after all). She probably would have had even more trouble if not for the fact that her classes, her dorm, and the Great Hall had been spread throughout the entire castle and the extensive castle grounds and the fact that her aunt hadn't cut back on her chores during the summers.

Seeing her three temporary companions pulling ahead of her, Azalea made a snap decision and reached into her bag to grab her disillusioned Firebolt. She then sent Hedwig on ahead to keep an eye on the examiner while she allowed herself to slowly fall behind the others until there was no one behind her to see her mount her broom. It only took a second for her to climb onto the hidden broom and once she was steady, she stood up on the handle, cast a weak wandless sticking charm on her feet so they wouldn't slip off the polished surface, and let the broom skim along just inches above the ground as she slowly increased the speed until she began catching up with the other applicants.

Because she kept the disillusioned broom so close to the ground, the other applicants were unlikely to realize that she wasn't running like they were unless they were to look down at her feet. Even if they did realize that she had found someway to cheat, it wasn't like she'd be disqualified; after all, the First Phase was shaping up to be nothing more than an extreme version of Follow-the-Leader. She could always drop off the broom the moment it looked like they had reached their destination to make it look like she'd run the entire distance like everyone else if she needed to.

As she carefully wove through the stragglers with expert timing and precision, Azalea soon caught sight of a short boy with pale silver hair (that was messier than Azalea's hair) riding on a skateboard and she laughed softly to herself at the sight; seems she wasn't the only one that had decided to conserve her energy. She was, on the other hand, more than a little surprised to find another kid taking part in the exams since based upon what she'd seen of the rest of the applicants; most of those taking part in the Hunter's Exam were older teens and adults of all ages. T

he witch's thoughts then turned inwards as she reexamined her reasons for taking the exam and her silent promise to grow strong enough to protect her friends; hoping and praying that Voldemort hadn't harmed them in order to try and flush her out once word of her disappearance spread. After a while, Azalea shoved aside her introspection along with the doubts that filled her heart and she began paying closer attention to her fellow applicants so that she could avoid getting knocked out of the exam by one of the other participants (like Tonpa) or one of those that collapsed in exhaustion.

Three hours after she'd started flying, Azalea witnessed a trio of applicants (the Amori brothers if she recalled Tonpa's earlier spiel correctly) harassing a heavyset kid with a laptop and she scowled as the kid dropped out of the running while bawling. Immediately after the computer nerd had dropped in defeat, she witnessed Tonpa paying off the three that had bullied the other kid. Azalea scowled at that; she hated bullies with a passion. Tonpa caught her staring and the man scowled back at Azalea before he jerked his gaze away.

Narrowing her eyes as the suspicion that the man would do his best to get her to quit or to get her disqualified rose inside of her, Azalea contemplated the morality of knocking the man (and his hired bullies) out of the running first by using her magic. Memories of all the times that Dahlia and a number of other bullies had verbally cut her down or physically pushed her around flashed through Azalea's mind and she clenched her jaw as she palmed her wand and allowed herself to drop back so she was once again at the very back of the group.

She then scanned those running ahead of her until she found her first target. Once she had the man in sight, she checked to make certain no one was paying any attention to her before she brought her wand up and cast the Trip Jinx. Azalea's aim was spot on and her target tripped over his feet before landing face first on the ground.

Azalea smirked and slowed down further as she angled her broom so that she coasted right passed the youngest Amori brother as she cast a silent Petrificus Totalus and a temporary sticking charm on him to prevent him from going any further; she'd chosen those two spell based upon the fact that they created no visible light and because they'd eventually wear off after three to four hours. When the man's two brothers dropped back to help their brother, Azalea casually hit them with the same three spells the moment they had fallen about even with her.

_Three down and one to go_, Azalea thought to herself as she let her broom speed up a touch in order to catch back up with the rest of the group so that she wasn't disqualified for failing to keep up.

Her attention was drawn away from her self appointed task when she noticed Leorio was starting to flag as the long-legged man fell to the back of the group. A few minutes later, the man stumbled to a stop and dropped his briefcase to the ground while Gon and the silver-haired kid with the skateboard both stopped several yards later and waited for Leorio to catch his breath. Azalea slowed her forward momentum as she listened to the silver haired boy urge Gon to forget about Leorio and keep going so that he wouldn't be disqualified.

Gon ignored the boy and simply continued to stare at Leorio as Azalea slowed to a stop just a few feet behind Leorio.

Azalea was just about to open her mouth to ask the older man if he was alright when the man straightened up and took off running. The witch simply shook her head before noticing that the man had forgotten to pick up his briefcase. Azalea had just drawn her wand in order to summon the thing so she could return it to the taller teen at some point when Gon snagged it with his fishing rod.

"Come on, James! Killua and I'll race you the rest of the way!"

"You know him?" the silver haired kid, whom Azalea assumed was the Killua person that Gon had mentioned, asked as he inspected Azalea for a moment.

"Yeah, he's James. James, this is Killua; he's twelve just like me. I met James on the ship that brought us to the island along with Leorio and Kurapika. He doesn't talk much and he hardly ever smiles but he's rather nice. He's also always falling behind and showing up last for everything; he's very smart though and he's got some neat tricks he can do that he calls family secrets. What do you say, James? Last one to reach the end buys the other two supper?"

"Go ahead," Azalea replied as she started her broom forward once more; hoping that the two boys would take off running right away so she could deal with Tonpa without an audience.

"You weren't kidding when you said he didn't speak much," Killua observed as the two of them fell in on either side of Azalea; leaving her a bit frustrated because she needed to deal with Tonpa but didn't want them to see her drop the jerk.

"Don't you two have a race to run?" Azalea asked with a touch of exasperation that both of the younger boys immediately picked up on.

"Are you trying to get rid of us?" Gon demanded as he pushed forward and stopped right in front of Azalea, forcing the witch to halt her broom least she run the kid over; nearly falling off as she did so.

"Yes."

Gon blinked at the honest answer in surprise while Killua asked, "Why? Didn't you just agree to race with us?"

"We're falling further behind," Azalea pointed out with a soft growl. "And there's something I need to do."

"What do you have to do? Can we help you?" Gon inquired as all three of them began moving once again; the two younger boys running while Azalea continued to fly on her broom. "And why aren't your feet touching the floor? Are you flying again?"

"How are you doing that?" Killua demanded as he too noticed that Azalea's feet weren't touching the floor.

"Years of practice and a talent for the impossible," Azalea quipped as she increased her speed in the hopes that she could pull away from the other two so she could disappear long enough to deal with Tonpa. "And no, you can't help, Gon."

"Why not?"

"Are you planning on cheating?" Killua inquired insightfully as he glanced at Azalea out of the corner of his eye. "And what exactly is it that you are doing?"

"Because it's something I have to do, Gon. And what makes you think I'm doing anything, Killua?"

"But aren't we supposed to be working together? Like you told that old woman?" Gon asked with a child's logic. "And James is flying, Killua; it's one of those family secret things I mentioned earlier so he probably can't tell us how he's doing it."

"I think he's just trying to avoid answering our questions," Killua stated with a slight scowl. "Are you sure he can be trusted?"

"I trust him."

"I don't remember being this annoying when I was twelve," Azalea deadpanned as she increased her speed again which prompted both twelve year olds to increase their speed as well so that they kept pace beside her; the two of them now running full out.

"Are you thirteen then?"

"No, he's sixteen."

"Sixteen? Are you kidding me, Gon? He's too short to be sixteen!"

"What do I have to do to get the two of you to leave me alone so that I can do what I need to do?"

"Why won't you let us help you? What are you trying to hide?" Gon demanded as he frowned up at Azalea.

Azalea felt an urge to scream as she closed her eyes and she reached up to pinch the bridge of her nose. She'd once thought no one could be more annoying than star struck fan-boys with out of control hormones or cameras. She was just contemplating whether or not she could justify hexing the two of them when Gon cried out in concern.

"James, watch out! Stairs!"

Snapping her eyes open, Azalea had just enough time to avoid crashing into the stairs by shifting her weight back onto her left foot at the last second. She then cast her eyes further up the stairs and noticed that they'd finally caught up with the stragglers. Cursing under her breath as she realized that they must be getting close to the exit, Azalea prepared to increase her speed again in order to regain all of the ground she'd lost when she felt both boys latch onto her arms.

"We're at the very back of the group and we're not going to pass this task if we don't hurry up," Gon urgently stated as he too realized what the stairs meant.

"There are too many people in front of us," Killua added with a slight scowl.

"Can the two of you run any faster?" Azalea asked as they broke apart briefly in order to move around a man that had crumbled to the ground.

"Yes, but it won't be easy going up the stairs."

"What about you? Can you go any faster?" Gon asked worriedly as he reattached himself to Azalea's arm at the first opportunity.

"Yes."

"Can you give us a lift since you were the one that held us back with all your evasions?" Killua all but ordered as he once again grabbed hold of Azalea's sleeve.

"If the two of you had just raced on ahead like you were planning to, then there wouldn't have been a problem," Azalea groused as she did some fast thinking. "Can I trust the two of you to keep a secret?"

"Yes!" both boys crowed in unison.

"Good, because we'll need to disappear if you expect me to carry you the rest of the way and you're going to have to hold on tight. Gon, grab onto my arm with both hands and when I give you the signal; I'm going to lift you up and you're going to need to put both of your feet one in front of the other right behind my left foot and then hold onto my waist. Ready?"

"Ready!"

"Now!"

Azalea lifted her left arm up and twisted her body so that Gon could step onto the invisible broom behind her while she tried not to throw herself off balance or crash the broom into the stairs. There was a brief moment where the broom wobbled dangerously as Gon scrambled to place his feet while transferring his arms from Azalea's arm to her waist but it thankfully didn't last long enough to knock either of the off of the broom. Once Gon was in a stable position, Azalea let out a soft sigh and reached across her body with her left arm to grab hold of Killua's left wrist.

"You're next, Killua," Azalea stated as she slipped her right arm behind the younger boy and hooked him under the armpit. "On the count of three I'm going to pick you up and pull you in front of me; you'll need to place your feet one in front of the other directly in front of my right foot. I promise I won't let you fall. Ready? One, two, and now!"

Azalea heaved the younger boy up and pulled him in front of her while keeping a tight grip on Killua as he hurried to place his feet as instructed. The broom veered to the left and Azalea shifted her weight to the right and onto her back foot to correct their trajectory and raise them several more inches from the rising stairs to compensate for the added weight of the two boys (the combined weight of all three of them more than three times that of Azalea's weight alone). The moment the broom was steady once more, she carefully pulled her wand back out and Disillusioned all three of them just before they passed another applicant that had been unable to continue. She then cast Sticking Charms on both boys' feet to prevent them from falling off before putting her wand away again (the version of the spell she used on them far stronger than the wandless one holding her own feet in place).

"You two will need to brace yourselves and, whatever you do, don't try to move your feet or you'll throw us off balance and cause us to crash. Oh, and from here on out, you'll need to stay silent so no one hears you or I will make it so you can't say anything for the rest of the exam. Ready?"

"Yes!"

"Then let's go!" Azalea replied as she leaned forward slightly to urge the broom even faster and pushed down on her back leg to push them up into the air high enough so that they wouldn't need to worry about running into the other applicants.

As they rocketed up the staircase, Azalea snapped out short, soft commands for the boys to lean to the left or the right as the occasional obstacle in the form of a low hanging light or an extra tall individual cropped up on their path. She could feel Gon pressing his face against her back and Azalea suspected the kid was fighting the urge to whoop loudly with excitement and not scream in fear by the way the kid was practically vibrating. Killua, on the other hand, had wrapped his hands around Azalea's arms and leaned back against Azalea to steady himself; though he too was shaking with suppressed excitement.

Fifteen minutes later, the three of them shot passed Kurapika and Leorio who were running side by side up the stairs and she nearly cringed when Gon automatically turned his head to the side started to call Leorio's name before he cut himself off. The two teens had heard the call before Gon caught himself but the three of them were long gone by the time the two of them had glanced up to look for the source of the call. Azalea wasn't too mad since the twelve year old had at least caught himself but she hoped he wouldn't do it again since the last thing she wanted was to draw the attention of the other applicants.

Just a few minutes after they passed Leorio and Kurapika, Azalea nearly gave their position away as she let out a soft, feral growl as they shot past Tonpa. If not for the fact that she could see a glimmer of what could only be open sky up ahead and the two twelve year olds standing on the broom with her, Azalea might have stopped right then in order to deal with the jerk. Needing to concentrate on her flying, least she run them into the wall or another person as they closed in on the open door, Azalea shoved all thoughts of Umbridge's long lost twin to the back of her mind.

"Killua, I need my right arm back," Azalea murmured as she wiggled the arm in question. The moment her arm was released, Azalea pulled her wand back out (so she could cancel the sticking charms on their feet) as she gave out the next set of instructions, "On the count of three, I'm going to need the two of you to slip your feet off to either side so that we can all sit down at once or we won't be able to clear the door. When you do, make certain you don't let go of me for any reason. Ready? One, two, and drop!"

The sixteen year old witch was never more thankful for Cushioning Charms as she was when she dropped roughly onto the handle of her broom; both of her hands occupied and unable to help her brace herself to ease her landing. The boys had it even worse and they both grunted and cringed over the borderline painful landing. They would soon forget about the ache between their legs as they shot out of the stairwell thirty seconds later. Azalea hurriedly pulled back on Killua as she hissed out an order for both boys to lean backwards so that the broom shot up into the sky instead of crashing into the back of the small crowd milling around just outside of the exit.

She then leaned into Killua and placed both hands on the handle so she could bring the broom to a complete stop; leaving the three of them hovering close to forty meters in the air as she sat up so that they were looking out over the fog covered grounds. She took a moment to still the rapid pounding of her heart over the near disaster (crash landings were never fun and crashing into people would have drawn far too much attention to herself) before she addressed her two passengers.

"Are you both alright?"

"Yeah; that was so awesome! Can we do it again?" Gon asked as he leaned sideways to peer down at the ground below in an attempt to see what was below the fog while keeping a tight hold of Azalea's waist.

"I'm alright and that was fun but what in the world are we sitting on?" Killua demanded at the same time.

"Hold on tight, I'm going to take us back down now," Azalea instructed as she ignored Killua's question and pointed the handle towards the ground as she once more leaned over Killua. Both twelve year olds bit off a squeal of excitement as they dropped straight down until Azalea came to a stop just a few inches above the roof of the stairway tunnel as it rose up out of the fog. She then sat up and inched the broom forward just as a loud clang shot through the air as the roll up door to the stairwell slammed shut; locking the last of the stragglers inside of the tunnel.

_That could have been us trapped in there,_ Azalea thought to herself as she swallowed thickly over how close she'd come to failing the exam.

Shaking away the thought of failing now, so soon after the true exam had started; Azalea searched the crowd until she found Kurapika and Leorio, both of whom were also searching through the other applicants. She nudged her broom forward and dropped down until she was hovering roughly two yards above of their heads with the intent of landing in the open space beside them when her attention was caught by the examiner as the man addressed the group once more. She felt both twelve year olds turn to face the mouthless man as he revealed that the First Phase was not yet complete.

"Welcome to the Numere Wetlands also known as Swindler's Swamp," Satotz stated as he gestured to the lowlands behind him as the fog shifted in the gentle breeze that lazily swept through the area. "In order to participate in the Second Phase, you must follow me through the wetlands. It is imperative that you remain alert as we cross through the swamp because this place is home to many strange and dangerous creatures that will prey upon the humans that fall into their clever traps. If you wish to survive the crossing, you will need to stay close to me as I lead you to the Second Phase."

"I don't know about the two of you but I'm feeling rather partial to flying for a bit longer," Azalea muttered as the examiner continued to describe the dangers of the swamp.

Before either twelve year old could comment on Azalea's mutters, there was a commotion below as a man attempted to accuse Satotz of being an imposter. Azalea used her wand, which she had yet to let go of, to scan the crowd below and determined that the accuser was actually the imposter just as Hisoka attacked both the examiner and the imposter; killing the imposter while Satotz blocked the attack by catching the cards. The sixteen year old couldn't stop the shiver that ran down her spine as she stared down at the man dressed as a jester; there was just something about the older man that screamed _danger_ to the witch.

"I don't trust that one," Killua murmured in a low pitched voice. "I think I like the idea of flying a little longer, James; if you don't mind the company. How fast can you go?"

"What about Kurapika and Leorio?" Gon asked from behind Azalea. "Can they fly with us as well?"

"Unfortunately, no; I can't hold anyone else," Azalea murmured as she began scanning the immediate area for any sign of Hedwig. "I can, however, have Hedwig keep an eye on the two of them for you and guide them in the event that they fall behind."

"Who is Hedwig?"

"She's my companion," Azalea replied at the same time as Gon answered, "She's James's owl."

The owl in question turned up just seconds later as she flew out from behind the tunnel exit to circle around the three hovering invisibly on the broomstick. Azalea let out a soft laugh, which surprised both the younger boys as they hadn't really heard her laugh before (her earlier snickers had gone unheard). She then softly addressed her long time friend and familiar, "Hedwig, can you watch over the two we were traveling with earlier and make certain they don't get lost?"

Hedwig gave a soft bark of compliance before she peeled away and dropped down to land on Kurapika's shoulder; her sudden weight startling the blond. Luckily, both Leorio and Kurapika immediately recognized her and accepted her presence without comment even as they continued to search the crowd for some sign of them (or so Azalea assumed).

"Thank you, James."

"No problem, Gon."

"Do you understand?" Satotz asked as he moved away from the dead imposter; his voice drawing the hovering trio's attention back down to the reason why they were all there. "If you can not keep up with me as we pass through the Numere Wetlands, then you will not live to reach the exam's Second Phase. Now, please follow me."

"Alright, Killua, since you are sitting in front; you're job is going to be to watch Satotz so that we don't get lost. Gon, your job is going to be to keep an eye on out for anything that tries to attack us from behind or above. I'm going to be concentrating on flying and avoiding any attackers coming at us from the front or below. Any questions? No? Then hold on tight."

Both twelve year olds smothered another squeal of excitement as they suddenly shot forward quite unexpectedly and quickly caught up to the fast moving examiner. Satotz glanced up in their direction briefly before he returned his eyes to the path in front of him and Azalea suspected that the man had sensed them and she increased their height marginally so as not to goad the potentially paranoid man into attacking them. When the fog began to thicken as they moved deeper into the swampland, Azalea dropped back down and slowed down just enough to let the examiner pull ahead of them another couple of yards before she matched his pace once more.

They'd barely been inside the swamp for twenty minutes when the first of the screams rang out from behind them as several participants were cut down by the creatures living in the swamp. Azalea flinched but resisted the urge to glance back over her shoulder as she focused on avoiding the obstacles that rose out of the fog (such as the trees and the larger creatures). She felt Killua twisting in her arms to glance behind them and hissed out a sharp reminder for the boy to not take his eyes off the examiner. Screams continued to ring out every few minutes but after a while the screams faded into the background noise of the swamp as the trio of flyers grew desensitized to the sound.

Six hours after exiting the tunnel, the last group of remaining applicants reached the location of the Second Phase and out of the four hundred and five participants that had started the First Phase more than two hundred had dropped out of the exam or they had potentially been killed by the inhabitants of the swamp.

Azalea and her two passengers were among the very first to arrive as was Tonpa to Azalea's disgust. Dropping down inside the cover of the forest that grew near where Satotz had stopped, Azalea removed the Disillusionment Charms before she told the other two to dismount. Once on the ground, she quickly tucked away her wand and shoved her broom back into her book bag. The three of them then casually walked out to join the rest of the applicants that had kept up with Satotz; all three of them looking fresh as daisies to the annoyance of several of the other candidates.

Tonpa looked especially annoyed as the infamous Rookie Crusher had been convinced that all three of them had failed to make it out of the tunnel since they hadn't been seen exiting the stairwell.

Azalea smirked at the older man as she pulled her hat down lower and shoved her glasses back into place before she turned away from the bully. The witch then immediately blanched as she caught sight of the contemplative look on the examiner's face as the man steadily met her eyes. Hedwig dropped down out of the sky just when the impromptu staring contest was beginning to grow uncomfortable and Azalea gratefully pulled her attention away from Satotz as the snowy owl landed on her left arm.

Several minutes later, Leorio and Kurapika stumbled into the clearing looking more than a little worn out but otherwise unharmed. Gon gave a cheer as he pulled Killua towards the pair while Azalea murmured soft praises to her feathered companion as she dug her out another owl treat and offered it to her. Hedwig barked at her a couple of times, daintily accepted the proffered treat, and climbed her way up to her shoulder as she swallowed the treat in record time.

The witch stroked her breast feathers as she retreated to one side of the clearing, seeking to put more distance between herself and the other applicants, as she studied the large stone wall and gate that bordered the clearing on the northern side. After a few minutes, she picked out a tree that was several meters away from the gate (and at the edge of the applicants crowded around the gate) and settled herself against the trunk as she dug out two mugs, a bottle of water, and her tin of tea leaves.

She then poured Hedwig a cup of water and set it beside her as the owl dropped down to quench her thirst. Once her familiar had been taken care of, she set about making herself a proper cup of tea; using her wand to discreetly heat the water in her mug before setting the leaves to steeping. Watching the leaves swirl inside of the cup reminded her of her Divination classes and she let herself wonder what was happening back at Hogwarts. She felt another flash of guilt over leaving her friends behind before she ruthlessly shoved it aside as she once again saw them being injured by the Death Eaters because she'd stupidly led them right into a trap.

She had to get stronger so that she could protect her friends and she only prayed that they'd understand and forgive her one day. Then again, they might not want anything to do with her after the stupid stunt she pulled at the end of last year and it's not like she had received any letters from them (though that was mostly because she'd been unreachable since the day they left Hogwarts).

Sighing, Azalea summoned the soggy tea leaves from her tea and dropped them onto the ground before she took a sip of her tea. She sighed a second time in pure pleasure as she felt the heat of the caffeinated beverage rush through her system to warm her wind chilled body from the inside out. She took a second, larger sip before she dug back into her bag to grab a packet of tea biscuits that she opened up and settled on her thigh. She'd just dunked a biscuit into her tea when several shadows fell over her and she glanced up to find her four quasi companions smiling down at her.

"You know, Mr. Doom and Gloom, for a while there I was convinced that you'd failed to make it out of the tunnel when we couldn't find you," Leorio declared as he leaned down to get a good look at Azalea. "At least I had right up until the moment your little feathered friend dropped down out of the blue and I remembered that annoying little habit you have of disappearing when the mood strikes you. Sneaky, very sneaky of you. Clever too, how you trained your bird to act as a guide."

"Is that hot tea you're drinking? How in the hell did you get your hands on a cup of hot tea out here in the middle of nowhere?" Kurapika inquired when he caught sight of what Azalea was drinking.

Azalea just shrugged uncomfortably as she returned her attention to her tea and promptly let out a mournful sigh when she noted the soggy remains of the biscuit she'd been about to eat disintegrating at the bottom of her cup where it had fallen. She _hated_ soggy cookie remains floating in her tea because it reminded her of the days when she used to steal the dregs out of Dahlia's cup when she was sent to wash the dishes after the Dursleys had eaten their Afternoon Tea. A rather pathetic habit she'd developed in order to get something to eat and drink on days when her so-called relatives were withholding food for one reason or another.

"Do you… do you have any more? And would you… um… be willing to share?" Kurapika hesitantly asked; the teen obviously uncomfortable bumming food from others. "I didn't bring much with me but once the exam is over I can pay you back. You know, buy you lunch or something in return."

"The lot of you might as well sit down as it will take me a few minutes to make enough for everyone," Azalea politely (if grudgingly) replied around yet another small sigh over the fact that her brief moment of solitude had been disrupted.

She then dove into her book bag headfirst until she was buried up to her armpits as she dug through her supplies to find the camping teapot she'd purchased. She set that off to one side without pulling her head out of the bag and quickly dug out everything she'd need to make sandwiches since she knew the others would probably be hungry even if she herself wasn't. She grabbed a few pieces of fresh fruit as well before pushing herself deeper into the bag so she could pull out the extra cups she recalled buying alongside of the teapot. When she finally pulled herself back out of her bag, it was to find the other four staring at her in pure shock.

"How much crap do you have in there?" Leorio demanded once he picked his chin up off the ground.

"What would happen if you fell inside of the bag? Would you ever be able to get out?" Killua asked at the same time.

"That is so cool!" Gon crowed as his eyes danced with curiosity and excitement as he tried to get a closer look at the bag.

Azalea snorted and dumped the bread and sandwich fixings into Kurapika's hands (the blond sitting closest to her) as she ordered, "Instead of gaping like a monkey, make yourself useful and make the sandwiches so I can make the tea."

Twenty minutes later, the five of them were enjoying yet another impromptu feast to the shock and envy of several of the other applicants; their unanswered questions temporarily forgotten in favor of enjoying the hot drink and food after the long hours of running (or flying in Gon and Killua's case).

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>_For those of you who are familiar with the Hunter x Hunter series, you're probably wondering what happened to the encounter between Hisoka, Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika and the short answer is that it didn't happen. Gon was in the air and both Leorio and Kurapika had taken a different route as they followed Hedwig. There will be other encounters with the crazed criminal but most of them will take place off screen since I've written this story most from Azalea's POV with a couple of sections from other POVs. _

_I also just realized that I never mentioned the fact that this story was my first attempt at writing a Fem!Harry. It was a rather unique experience for me since I'm so used to writing Harry as a male. It was also rather fun because it allowed me to try something new. Adding in the Fem!Dudley & Male!Hermione was my way of balancing things; since both cousins are the same gender in Canon and the trio is M/M/F not M/F/F. I did recently start another Fem!Harry story where I didn't change anyone else's gender but that's neither here nor there as I've not yet decided if I'm going to post that story because it's a bit darker than I usually write. _

_Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter… the next chapter will focus on the Second Task and will have a few more minor deviations from Canon. =) I'd also like to thank those of you who have left me a review and everyone who has added this story to their favorite and alert lists. ~ Jenn_


	5. Cooking x and x Falling

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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><p><span>Chapter Five: Cooking x and x Falling<span>

"The Second Phase of the exam will be taking place inside of the Visca Forest Park," Satotz announced several hours later (once it was obvious that there would be no other stragglers joining them); the man's blue eyes skimming over the remaining one hundred and sixty some applicants and Azalea shifted uneasily when the man's gaze lingered on her for a moment before moving on. "I shall be taking my leave now; best of luck to you all."

The First Phase examiner then gave Azalea one last, searching look before he strode off back into the Numere Wetlands where he was soon swallowed up by the fog. Behind them, the large gates leading into the Forest Park swung open with a loud creak to reveal a huge mansion with a large courtyard filled with cooking stations and barbecues.

Seated on a small couch at the foot of the steps leading up into the mansion was a young woman with teal colored hair that was pulled up into five ponytails that were wrapped round with pink ribbons and wearing skimpy shorts, a black bra under a see through midriff shirt, and knee high boots. The woman immediately reminded Azalea of Tonks due to her outrageous hair and evocative outfit. Sitting on the ground right behind her was a huge, barefoot man that reminded Azalea of Hagrid or possibly Hagrid's brother Grawp; only far rounder and clean shaven.

"Welcome to the Second Phase of the two hundred eighty-seventh Hunter's Exam," the woman called out as she draped her arms over the back of the couch. "Will everyone please step inside of the gates? Thank you! My name is Menchi and I am the Second Phase examiner."

"And I am Buhara, the other Second Phase examiner," the man added with a childish grin as he cheerfully waved at the applicants.

As Menchi explained their next test, grumbles and complaints could be heard from the majority of the applicants and Azalea frowned as she studied the two examiners. More than one person laughed when the woman revealed herself and her partner to be Gourmet Hunters but Azalea was far too busy wondering how proving she could cook would help her get the training she needed to defeat Voldemort. Her attention was drawn back to the pair as the argument was ended when the woman declared that they either took her test or they failed and tried again another year. All of the applicants fell silent and sullen after that as the pair laid out the small handful of rules and named the main ingredient that everyone had to use; pork.

"I hate cooking for other people," Azalea muttered under her breath.

"You know how to cook, James?" Gon asked with some surprise.

"Yeah; you could say that. Why?"

"If I bring back two pigs could you help me? I don't know how to cook at all."

"Neither do I," Killua admitted with Kurapika and Leorio echoing him a heartbeat later.

"They didn't say we couldn't work together," Azalea stated with a frown as the rest of the applicants dashed off into the forest in search of a pig while their small group stayed right where they were. "If three of you will go hunt down a pig and one of you will help me prepare the rest of the ingredients, then I guess I can do most of the actual cooking."

"Deal!" all four of the others cried out without any hesitation.

Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika were all quick to follow in the wake of the other participants while Killua trotted along at Azalea's side as the witch roamed through the cooking stations until she found the one in the far left row that sat a few feet away from the other stations and was therefore somewhat isolated (making it harder for another applicant to get close enough to sabotage their efforts). Azalea was a bit worried about the calculating look in Killua's when he had volunteered to help her prepare the ingredients and it had her more than a little one edge. When the kid just obediently followed her to the cooking station and glanced up at her waiting for instructions, Azalea relaxed marginally.

"Ever use a knife before?"

"Yes," Killua replied with a creepy smile that reminded Azalea of Bellatrix for a moment.

"Good, you can start peeling potatoes," Azalea replied as she did her best to ignore the almost crazed look in the kid's eyes; choosing instead to search through the provisions provided for the ingredients she'd need to make stuffed pork chops, grilled pork steaks, a pork roast, pork stir fry, and pork stew with mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, steamed veggies, steamed rice, fresh bread, and a chef salad as side dishes (one dish and side dish for each of them to offer up as part of the task). "Once you have ten peeled, dice them up into half-inch cubes."

"Alright."

While Killua started peeling the potatoes, Azalea peeled, sliced, and diced five large onions, an entire clove of garlic, and two bunches of celery. She then took a short break to start the rice and set half a dozen eggs to boiling before she heated several teaspoons of butter in a skillet so that she could sauté the celery, onions, and garlic. Killua finished with the potatoes about that time and Azalea had him start peeling and cutting up the carrots while she divided the potatoes up between the two pots she had on the stove; one for the stew (to be added after the meat had cooked) and one for the mashed potatoes. They'd been working for about half an hour when Killua finally broke the rather companionable silence between the two of them.

"Gon really likes you for some reason."

"Hnn."

"The other two seem to trust you more than you trust them."

"Hnn."

"The examiner from the First Phase was really interested in you; he kept watching you after we landed."

Azalea damn near sliced her thumb off as the knife she'd been using to slice the bell peppers for the stir fry slipped and cut deeply into the digit in question. The delinquent witch let loose a string of creative invectives as she stuffed the injured thumb in her mouth before she practically dove into her book bag for her Home Healer's Kit so she could clean and heal the cut quickly; treating the wound well out of sight inside of the book bag. She was still scowling when she stood back up a few minutes later.

"Knowing that he suspects you're hiding something really bothers you, doesn't it?"

"What do you want, Killua?"

"I want to know what you are hiding. Who are you really?"

"I'm someone who would prefer to be no one," Azalea replied quietly as she continued preparing the various dishes now that there was no danger of her bleeding out all over the ingredients.

"What kind of an answer is that supposed to be?"

Azalea just shook her head as she set the last of the bell peppers off to one side, gave the rice a stir to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan, and promptly began measure out the various spices for the stuffing as she pulled the sautéed celery, onions, and garlic off the heat and set it off to one side before she diced up several slices of bread that she dried out with a discreet wave of her wand. She deftly added both the spices and the bread to the sautéed veggies and stirred them well before slowly adding milk to the mixture until the bread was slightly moist. She then returned the skillet to the heat and covered it to cook the entire mixture.

Before Killua could repeat his questions, the other three returned carrying a huge pig with an excessively large snout and Azalea stared at it in disbelief before she shook her head and directed them to set it down beside the unlit barbeque. She then ordered the three of them to wash their hands so they could prepare the salad; instructing Gon to wash and tear the lettuce, Leorio to cut up the tomatoes, celery, and more carrots, and Kurapika to peel and slice the hard boiled eggs and to dice the sliced turkey breast and cooked ham for the salad. While they were doing that, Azalea grabbed a skinning knife and approached the dead pig with grim determination as she chose to see the huge swine as nothing more than an oversized potion ingredient.

It was about that time that the other applicants began returning with their own pigs in tow and Azalea couldn't help but note that everyone else seemed to simply be roasting the pigs whole; without even bothering to gut them. She frowned and wondered if she was going to too much trouble for the task before she glanced up and noticed the derisive sneer on Menchi's face as she watched everyone roasting their pigs over an open fire. Shaking her head, Azalea quickly butchered the pig (a task made somewhat easy due to the high number of unpleasant detentions she'd had over the past five years cutting up various potion ingredients under the supervision of Snape).

The leg bones were then tossed into the stew pot to boil along with some of the less desirable cuts that had been cubed. The roasts were trussed up with butcher's twine, tucked into roasting pans, and thrown into the oven. Seeing that Killua had nothing to do at the moment, she passed the nosy little brat several hunks of meat and told him to cut them into thin strips that were one inch wide, three inches long, and a quarter inch thick. Leorio was then asked to start the barbeque (to grill the steaks) while Kurapika was given a red onion to slice and Gon was told to grate the cheese.

The pork chops were then stuffed and tossed into the oven and the steaks set onto the grill after Azalea adjusted the flames and heat with a quick flick of her wand when she was certain no one was watching. Kurapika and Killua were then asked to cut up broccoli and cauliflower to steam while Leorio and Gon were set to shucking the corn on the cob. By this time, several of the other applicants were hauling their roasted pigs up to the examiners and twin cries of pass and fail rang out with each dish presented; Buhara passing everyone and Menchi failing everyone.

Growing nervous, Azalea checked on everything that was in the oven, added the vegetables to the stew, and pulled the rice from the heat. The mashed potatoes were done a few minutes later and she drained them, dumped them in a bowl, and passed it to the others and told one of them to mash them as she added margarine, salt, milk, and garlic powder. The steaks were flipped, the stuffed chops rotated, and the inner temperature of the roast checked. After that, she finally started the stir fry as she told Kurapika and Leorio to dish everything else onto platters and instructed them to make certain it looked professional.

Four hours after the task first started, three hours after the others had brought the pig back, and one hour after all of the other applicants had failed the test; Azalea led the other four in her group up to where the two examiners were sitting at the base of the stairs. Each of them carried a platter with a different course and side dish on it with enough food on each tray for both examiners to taste test. They carefully slid their platters onto the table in front of Menchi and stepped back as they waited for the verdict. Buhara was mostly stuffed but the moment he saw what was placed in front of him he reached for it only for Menchi to slap his hand away and tell him to wait a moment.

The teal haired woman studied each platter critically before she studied the individual that had carried the platter and after she finished that, she gave Azalea a piercing look as she picked up a fork and tried the first dish; stir fried pork over a bed of white rice with a light teriyaki sauce and a side of steamed vegetables. She chewed carefully and took a second bite before she passed the entire platter to Buhara who immediately proclaimed the dish delicious as he practically inhaled it in one bite.

While Buhara was devouring the first offering, Menchi was sampling the roast pork with mashed potatoes and brown gravy. This time she took three bites before passing the entire platter to her partner and all five entrants were starting to grow antsy because Menchi hadn't said a single word. Azalea felt like she was nine years old again and standing in front of Aunt Petunia while her mother's sister sampled the roast duck she'd made on her orders for one of Uncle Vernon's client dinners as the teal haired woman cut into a stuffed pork chop before sampling the chef's salad that accompanied it. Unexpectedly, a pleased hum was heard from the finicky woman and Menchi ate a whole pork chop before grudgingly passing the rest to Buhara.

That left only two remaining dishes; the grilled pork steaks with grilled corn on the cob and a thick pork stew with buttered bread. She barely sampled the grilled steaks but consumed an entire bowl of stew before passing the last of the food to Buhara who continuously proclaimed everything as perfect. The woman on the other hand, daintily wiped her mouth, propped her elbows on the table, and tucked her chin in her hands as she leaned forward and pinned Azalea with a raptor's gaze.

"Number three-five-seven, you are an interesting individual; I think I like you. With skills like yours, don't think I didn't notice that you did a good portion of the work on all of the dishes; you could be a great Gourmet Hunter. Out of all the applicants participating in the Second Phase, you are the only one that truly understood the task. You still need more training though and I think I will enjoy helping you perfect your technique."

"Thank you for the compliments, ma'am, but no thank you. I hate cooking. All I need to know is if we passed the task as while I might have done most of the cooking, I could not have made all of the dishes without the help of the others."

"You hate cooking?" Menchi parroted back in shock and more than a little anger.

Azalea just shrugged in reply before she turned and walked away, certain that they'd failed just like everyone else had now. Besides, she needed to clean up her messes and put away the unused ingredients as well as the leftover food since she had no intention of letting the food she'd cooked go to waste and old habits were hard to break. She was the only one unsurprised when the woman loudly declared that they were all failures.

The goofy old guy dropping out of the airship that had flown over the testing area to chastise the woman for failing everyone, on the other hand, surprised her just as much as his sudden appearance surprised the rest of the applicants.

Azalea studied the man; taking in his mostly bald head with a long samurai's topknot of white hair, excessively long eyebrows, bushy white mustache, a strangely styled white beard that looked like the tip had been dipped in gray paint, and huge earlobes that had been pierced twice. He wore a traditional martial arts gi with blue trim, a yellow v on the back, and long sleeves that hung down passed his hands and a pair of wooden geta (a type of Japanese sandal that resembled a cross between a flip-flop and a clog with one or two long 'teeth' on the bottom that elevated the wearer and helped keep their feet out of the mud).

As if he had felt Azalea's eyes on him, the man turned to meet Azalea's gaze and the witch froze as the man's piercing brown eyes seemed to weigh and measure her soul in that single glance. Azalea shifted nervously from foot to foot as she briefly wondered if the man knew that she was a witch. The wide smile the man gave her just seconds later only served to add to her concerns as she couldn't help but worry about what that smile might mean for her in the long run. Azalea didn't relax again until the man looked away.

Not long after that, the group was informed that the Second Phase of the test was going to be redone and that everyone would have a second chance at passing Menchi's test. This time, they were supposed to boil eggs.

The moment that Azalea saw what the new task entailed, she felt excitement bubble up inside of her as she stared down into the canyon and watched Menchi fly without aide of a broom. Azalea didn't even care about the eggs that they were supposed to collect; she just wanted to dive into the canyon so she could fly on the uplift. After a few minutes of consideration, Azalea took her broom out of her pack; sure, flying unaided looked like fun but Azalea didn't feel like tempting fate. She purposefully held herself back when just over a third of the remaining applicants jumped into the canyon all at the same time on the heels of Gon, Killua, Leorio, and Kurapika.

Leaning over the side of the canyon, Azalea watched Gon take charge as he told the others to wait as they all held onto the large webs strung between the two walls of the canyon. A few of those that didn't wait for Gon's signal ended up falling to their deaths and Azalea barely restrained the urge she felt to throw herself over the side to save them. Just when it seemed like the webs would break under the combined weight of the fifty-five applicants still holding onto the web, Gon gave the signal as he let go and grabbed an egg on the way down before the uplift caught him and threw him back up into the air. Azalea knew that far more people than expected successfully retrieved an egg because of the kid.

Once everyone else was back up on the top of Mount Split-in-Half, Azalea casually slipped off her hat and tucked it into her bag as she walked up to the canyon edge. She then turned her back to the canyon before she closed her eyes, spread her arms out wide (her left hand firmly holding onto her broom), and simply allowed herself to fall backwards. She knew that several people were watching her as she heard more than one cry of shock ring out when she intentionally ignored both the webs and the hanging eggs and soon disappeared into the fog deep within the canyon; a number of people undoubtedly thinking she'd just committed suicide.

She didn't care what they thought though because she was far too wrapped up in the heart pounding sensation of falling.

After another couple of minutes, Azalea sensed the ground growing closer (an ability she'd developed during the long hours of insane flying drills that Oliver Wood had put her through during her first three years on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team) and she spun herself around and smoothly mounted her broom as she slowed to a stop just inches away from the jagged rocks lining the bottom of the canyon. And then, a great gust of wind pushed her up and she let her Firebolt shoot upwards as she crowed out a wordless cry of sheer joy as the rushing wind tripled the fastest speed of her broom and in less than a minute she was exploding out of the canyon with a loud whoop.

Azalea couldn't resist falling backwards to do it again the moment the wind vanished from beneath her and the fall lasted twice as long this time because of how high she'd been thrown. She barely even slipped below the level of the fog before the wind was throwing her up again and this time she let go of her broom with her hands and let her body hang by her legs as she was pushed up even higher than before. Again and again she played tag with the uplifts with Gon and Killua both jumping in to join her after the first half hour (the two boys making good use of the webs as they tried to match the speed and heights she managed with her broom).

There was something exhilarating about letting herself get lost in the moment as the Hunter's Exam, the prophecy, and Voldemort faded into the shadows. And for one fleeting moment, Azalea was just an ordinary witch flying on her broom and dancing with the wind.

As the sun began to set, Azalea finally dropped down to hover beside one of the hanging nests of eggs and carefully selected one that appeared ready to fall; the nest damaged by the other applicants. After a moment's debate, she carefully secured the rest of the eggs in that clump so that they would not fall to their death since those eggs were needed if the species was to survive. When she rose up out of the canyon this time, she was standing on her broom without aide and without the benefit of an updraft to carry her out of the gorge.

She neither cared nor noticed the calculating looks that all of the full-fledged Hunters present gave her as she rose above the cliff and dropped down to sit on the Firebolt properly so she could grab the handle of the broom before she jumped off and landed on her feet. She then tucked her egg beneath her arm so it wouldn't drop before returning the broom back to her book bag and fishing out her hat. By the time she looked up, no one was looking in her direction any longer and she happily moved off a ways from the rest of the group in order to cook her egg.

"I'm sorry, I should not have failed you and your friends during the first run of the Second Phase," a familiar voice declared just seconds before Menchi stepped out of the growing shadows and took a seat across the fire from Azalea fifteen minutes later. "I was angry because you have a lot of potential and you're willing to let it go to waste."

Azalea glanced over at her before returning her attention to the large egg rolling around in the pot of boiling water sitting in the center of the small fire she made. She didn't know what to say in reply to the woman and part of her was still angry at her for dismissing the others the way she had; they'd worked just as hard on those dishes as she had. She also hoped that by maintaining her silence that the woman wouldn't feel the need to dig into her reasons for being able to cook like she did while professing to hate cooking.

"You talk too much, you know that?"

The witch snorted and flicked her eyes over to the female Hunter a second time before she pulled the pot off of the fire and carefully dumped out the water before she cooled the egg down with cold water from her supplies. Once she could handle the egg without burning her hands, she carefully cracked it and peeled away the shell before slicing it up into several wedges that she promptly fed to Hedwig one at a time.

"You should try some of that; it's really good you know."

"I don't like eggs," Azalea stated with a shrug of her shoulders as she tried not to shudder; she disliked eggs (no matter what kind they were or how they were cooked) almost as much as she disliked soggy biscuit crumbs in her tea and for pretty much the same reason.

"Is there anything you do like?"

"Yes."

"James! There you are! We've been looking all over for you," Gon exclaimed as he and Killua dashed up beside her out of breath. "It's time to go and if we don't hurry they'll leave us behind."

"Go on ahead."

"You're not trying to get rid of us again, are you?" Gon demanded with a trace of suspicion and a stubborn set to his jaw.

"No; I have to put out my fire and clean up first."

"Good, you better hurry up."

Azalea let out a soft snort as she quickly put out her small campfire before she packed up her things and cleaned up her small camp. When Menchi fell into step beside her, she couldn't help but throw a frown in her direction as she wondered whether or not the older woman had been attempting to make her miss the airship or if she'd been sent to interrogate her. By the time the two of them reach the glorified blimp that would be transporting them to the next Phase of the Exam, Azalea was scowling as she worried over just how much interest the Hunters had shown in her so far.

"Ah, number three-fifty-seven, right on time," the goofy old man from earlier declared as Azalea stepped inside of the airship after sending Hedwig off to make her own way to their next destination (Azalea had not wished for her feathered companion to be trapped within the airship for who knew how long without proper room to stretch her wings). "I just need a little more information from you for our records before you join the other applicants; starting with your full name."

"James."

"Is there a last name to go with that?"

"No."

"Hnn. Alright, birthdate?"

"July thirty-first."

"Age?"

"Sixteen."

"Gender?"

Azalea flinched slightly in response to the question before she reluctantly lied, "Male."

"Can you please tell me the names of your parents and their current address?"

"Why do you need to know about my parents?" Azalea asked warily as she nervously glanced around the room for the first time and noted that both the door behind her and the door leading deeper into the airship were currently being blocked by Menchi and Satotz respectfully while the green guy that had passed out the numbered badges was standing just a few feet behind the old man.

"You are currently underage; so we need to have the name and address of an emergency contact in the event that you are seriously injured during the remaining phases of the exam now that you've passed the first two. So, why don't you start with your mother?"

"Dead."

"Ah, I am sorry to hear that young man. Father?"

"Dead."

"I see. Who is your legal guardian?"

"My godfather."

"And he is…?"

"Dead."

"I'm beginning to sense a pattern here," the old man drawled with obvious concern and a trace of frustration. "May I ask who has been taking care of you if all of your primary caregivers are deceased?"

"Me."

"Hnn. I still need the name and address of someone we can contact in the event of an emergency."

"I don't have one that I can give you," Azalea reluctantly stated as she pushed away the brief flash of pain she felt at denying the existence of those few she saw as her friends and family but she couldn't risk someone seeking them out to do them harm because of her.

"And just who am I supposed to contact if something happens to you?"

Azalea just shrugged and stuffed her hands in her pocket as she hunched her shoulders and avoided meeting the man's gaze when he openly frowned at the witch. It wasn't like there was any real need to notify the wizarding world of her death anyway. The goblins would learn of her death the moment her core stopped producing magic (something that usually occurred between fifteen and twenty-four hours after a magical's heart permanently stopped beating) due to the magic that tied her to her vaults. The goblins could also be trusted to deal with her vaults in the event of her death as they had a copy of her will; which basically split everything she owned up between her friends.

"Moving on, then; what is your current height?"

"One-hundred-fifty-two and one-half centimeters."

"And your current weight?"

"Six and a half stone."

"Known health issues?"

"None," Azalea replied even as she added a silent, '_unless you were to count the huge target I've been wearing on my back since __**before**__ I was born._'

"Date of your last physical?"

"Physical?" Azalea repeated in confusion.

"When was the last time you saw your family doctor for a complete check-up?"

"Oh, I saw the school nurse back in the middle of June."

"The school nurse?"

"Yes."

"The school nurse gave you a physical?"

"I suppose. She said I was fine."

"And the last time you saw an actual doctor; outside of school?"

"Never."

"Just one more question and we're done here; do you have any identifying marks such as tattoos, scars, or birthmarks? If the answer is yes, I'll need a brief description and location of each one."

Azalea jerked her head up in shock and automatically took a step backwards as she demanded, "Why do you need to know that?"

"For identification purposes in the event that you are killed and your face is unrecognizable," the old man replied bluntly as he briefly glanced up from the form he'd been filling out.

"I have a few scars," Azalea grudgingly supplied after eying the man a minute longer. "A jagged line on my forehead, a two inch line in the crook of my right elbow, three shallow gashes on the back of my left shoulder, and…"

Azalea trailed off as she thought about the last scar and unconsciously pulled her hands out of her pocket so she could run her left thumb over the words she'd been forced to carve into the back of her right hand during her detentions with Umbridge all throughout her fifth year. As much as she'd grown to hate the lightning bolt scar on her forehead since rejoining the wizarding world, she hated those terrible words even more. She shivered a bit as thoughts of that scar led to thoughts of Umbridge and her fifth year which in turn led to thoughts of the battle she and her friends had fought at the end of the term and Sirius's death which soon turned to thoughts of the prophecy once again.

"And…?" the man prompted when Azalea didn't immediately finish; his voice pulling Azalea out of her memories.

"And a couple of letters on the back of my right hand."

"Can you tell me what letters?"

"I must not tell lies."

"I beg your pardon?"

"The scar on the back of my hand spells out the words 'I must not tell lies'," Azalea repeated in a dead voice as she shoved her hands back into her pockets and stared at the wall over the man's left shoulder in order to avoid meeting his eyes as he glanced up sharply from the form he was filling out the moment Azalea clarified her answer.

"I see. Thank you for your patience, James. Just follow Beans; he'll lead you to where the others are waiting."

* * *

><p>"Satotz? What was your analysis?" Isaac Netero, Chairman of the Hunter's Association demanded softly as he watched Beans lead applicant number three-fifty-seven towards the lounge where all of the other applicants were waiting.<p>

"He is a riddle. By rights he should not have had the stamina to complete Phase One as he has clearly gone through long, repeated periods of malnourishment based upon his age, height, weight, and physical stature; unless he was lying about his age. And yet, he arrived at the site of the Second Phase in peak condition and not winded at all and I had sensed him and the two younger children that have stuck to his side like glue pacing me throughout the crossing of the Numere Wetlands. There were even a few times when it seemed as if the three of them were practically flying over my head and I never once caught a single glimpse of them throughout the course of the task. In fact, I didn't see them until they reached the end of the trail."

"Menchi?"

"He is a decent cook but claims to hate cooking. I watched him almost the entire time and he had no trouble keeping track of ten different dishes while keeping the other four that worked with him properly occupied. He also never sampled a single bite of the food he made while he was cooking and I half expected the food they presented to be horribly bland or far too over spiced. And while there was plenty of room for improvement, they were all well made. So, he's highly organized, can multitask, is obviously intelligent, and is used to stepping forward as a leader. The stubborn brat also doesn't speak one word more than necessary."

"Yes, I noticed that. Mizuken? How truthful was the lad?"

"Aside from the fact that he is actually a _she_, the kid never once told an outright lie even if she wasn't exactly being perfectly honest either," a voice replied as a man with an angular face, dark brown eyes, sparse mustache and goatee, and shaggy brown hair he stepped out from behind the hidden panel in the wall beside the entrance. "She's a skittish little thing and she's been partially trained to use her Nen; though whether she had someone teach her or she learned it on her own is hard to say. She's a right powerful little runt too. In fact, all five members of that little group are extremely powerful."

"A girl? Well, I suppose it isn't all that difficult to imagine why she'd wish to hide her true gender given her age and size when one considers the number of unsavory individuals that participate in the exams each year. Do we know anything else about her?"

"The ship captain that brought applicants three-fifty-four through three-fifty-seven to the island had nothing but good things to say about all four individuals; though he had surprisingly little to say about three-fifty-seven despite the fact that the girl had been one of the first applicants he'd picked up," Satotz added after a moment. "The Quizzing Lady said she has a sixth sense for spotting trouble, that she is highly intuitive, and that she is a natural born leader with limitless potential. Both of them also believed that she was a boy; so she is rather good at portraying and disguising herself as a boy."

"The Kiriko said that she is far too mature for her age and that trapped inside her soul is a broken little child with a deeply ingrained belief that her life is worth nothing; stating that she is slow to trust, quick to assume the worst, and far too self-sacrificing. They also thought her a boy as she'd been able to mask her physical presence from their senses just enough to make it difficult to get a clear read on her," Mizuken offered as he leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. "If numbers three-fifty-five and three-fifty-seven pass the exam, I want to be the one to test and train them; they are both filled with burning determination and desperation."

"I'll keep that in mind when I assign tutors to each of the new Hunters for the hidden exam," Netero replied as he glanced down at the incomplete Hunter Application in his hands. "I'd like the three of you to continue keeping an eye on that particular group throughout the rest of the Exam. As you may have noticed, Ging's son has gravitated to our mysterious young lady."

"Ging's son is truly something else. He showed no fear as he jumped into the canyon and he is just as much of a leader as number three-fifty-seven; only he has far more confidence in himself," Menchi stated with a small laugh.

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong>

Stone (when in reference to weight) – one stone is equal to fourteen pounds so six and half stone is approximately ninety-one pounds.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>_For those of you who are also reading my other HP/HxH crossover, you will see similarities between this chapter and the equivalent chapter in Hunter x in the x Making. The reason for that is because both stories were actually birthed from the same plot bunny before they mutated into two separate stories. The original story that formed both stories has been laid to rest but bits and pieces of it will be found in both stories even though the plot lines of both Fics are now far different. ~ Jenn  
><em>


	6. Games x We x Play

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Six: Games x We x Play<span>

"Here we are, young man; you'll find the rest of your fellow applicants through these doors," Beans announced as they stopped in front of a set of doors.

"Thank you," Azalea replied as she made no move to open the door; her thoughts in turmoil due to the short question and answer session that the old man had just put her through. The short green man waited patiently beside her and Azalea wished he would leave because she wanted to make herself invisible before she entered the room so that she wouldn't have to talk to anyone.

"Chairman Netero will be arriving shortly to debrief all of the applicants," Beans stated after another few minutes passed. "You should join the others now, so that you don't miss his speech."

Azalea sighed and nodded but still made no move to open the doors. Beans let her have another minute before he simply opened the left door and held it open so that Azalea could enter the room first. Sighing again, Azalea pulled her hat down low over her face and hunched her shoulders before she reluctantly shuffled into the room. She kept her eyes on the ground in order to avoid meeting anyone's gaze and stuck close to the wall as she moved a few feet away from the door. She then leaned back against the wall, crossed her arms over her chest, and ignored the numerous pairs of eyes she felt staring at her.

Just a few minutes later, the man that had been questioning Azalea entered the room alongside Beans and everyone was asked to gather close. Azalea opted to remain where she was (the witch unwilling to mingle with the other applicants at the moment) though she did finally pull her eyes away from the floor. She couldn't help but flinch when the man stated that he was the chairman for the current exam and she found herself breaking out into a cold sweat as she wondered why the chairman had felt the need to personally question her when any old examiner could have done so.

The witch doubted that the man had interviewed all fifty-six of the remaining applicants; otherwise it would have taken longer for them to take off (unaware that she was the only applicant that hadn't turned in a completed application prior to entering the Exam).

"Please allow me to properly introduce myself; I am Isaac Netero; the Chairman for the two hundred eighty-seventh Hunter Exam Selection Committee. I had originally planned to make an appearance during the final Phase of the test but I find the rising tension in the air exhilarating and so I have decided to stick around a little longer in the hopes that a few of the remaining fifty-six applicants in this room will entertain me."

"For those of you who don't know me, I am Chairman Netero's secretary; Beans. We are due to arrived at the site of the next phase tomorrow morning at eight o'clock in the morning," Beans stated while Chairman Netero laughed heartily over his own declaration. "For those of you who are hungry, there is a buffet style supper set up in the main Dining Hall. There are also a series of small dorms available if you wish to get some rest. In other words, all of you are free to do as you wish until we arrive at our destination."

Azalea scowled and returned her gaze to the floor as the majority of the other applicants filed out of the room seeking food or a bed. She heard, rather than saw, Gon and Killua dart passed her on their way out; the two boys eagerly discussing what part of the airship they should explore first. Azalea wasn't certain whether she should feel relieved or depressed over the fact that neither boy had stopped to try and talk her into joining them as she had half expected them to. She overheard her other two short-term companions drawing nearer next.

"There is one thing that bothers me," Kurapika confessed to Leorio as the two of them reached the door.

"And what is that?" Leorio asked in return.

"Exactly how many more phases are there to this exam?"

"Oh. None of the examiners so far have mentioned an exact number, have they?"

"The number of tasks varies from year to year but on average there are usually five or six phases," Tonpa answered as he walked up behind the other two.

"That would mean that we still have at least three more to go…" Leorio mused and Azalea lifted her head just enough to see the taller man stop and turn around to face the shorter man.

"All the more reason for us to get some rest now," Kurapika stated tiredly and both the blond and Leorio turned to leave once more.

"I wouldn't let my guard down if I were you," Tonpa quickly added before the other two could leave the room. "There are still thirteen hours between now and when we arrive and…"

"And you should shut up," Azalea growled derisively as she pushed away from the wall; her annoyance with the foul little man spiking sharply due to her current insecurities and irritation. "I've met people like you before; people who think it is their god-given right to walk all over everyone else because they have been deluded into thinking themselves superior. When in truth they are nothing more than insignificant little toe-rags that get off on bullying those who are smarter or more talented than they are in order to make themselves feel better about the fact that they themselves are nothing but hopeless failures that lie and cheat their way through life. People like you disgust me."

Kurapika and Leorio were gaping at Azalea; neither one of the teens had ever heard the witch string so many words together or use such a contemptuous tone in all the time they'd spent in her company. Tonpa's face, on the other hand, had steadily grown darker throughout Azalea's short speech as the man grew angrier with each word Azalea uttered.

"I'm going to kill you," Tonpa growled as he clenched his fists and bared his teeth.

"You and what army, little toad?"

"I'm going to choke the life out of you with my bare hands!"

Azalea let out a soft, low, dark laugh that held no trace of humor in it and those that were close enough to hear her shivered nervously (bar one murderously insane man that was standing just outside the room and wearing a badge with the number forty-four on it). The young witch then sneered at the small, fat man as she scathingly retorted, "Uglier and more powerful men than you have tried and failed to kill me time and time again. You wouldn't even make me break a sweat before your world went black."

Azalea then deliberately turned her back on the older man and walked out of the room without looking back. She'd barely gone three steps beyond the door when the fine hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she instinctively dropped down into a crouch, spun around on her heels as she thrust her right arm forward, and let the incantation for the Full Body-Bind Curse cling to the tip of her tongue. She jerked her eyes upwards seconds later and felt the spell freeze in her mouth as she found Hisoka the Magician looming over her with one hand stretched out (as if the man had been going to grab her) and wearing a rather creepy grin. Azalea didn't dare breathe as she waited for the man to attack her.

"Impressive," Hisoka murmured as his grin grew wider. "Almost as impressive as that neat little flying trick you did earlier. I think I'll be keeping an eye on you, little mouse. I want you to impress me again."

Azalea dropped back onto her butt as the creepy man licked his lips in anticipation he before walked right by Azalea. She took a shaky breath and carefully did not turn her head to watch the man walk away as she silently thought, '_Merlin's grubby and moth eaten undershorts; that man frightens me more than Voldemort and all of his Death Eaters combined._'

"Are you alright, James?" Kurapika demanded as he and Leorio rushed up to her; the two of them had witnessed the entire scene as they'd followed after her once they'd made certain that Tonpa wasn't going to attack her while her back was turned.

"Just peachy," Azalea deadpanned as she reached up to ran a hand over her face and knocked her glances askew.

"Come on, you can come bunk in one of the dorms with us; you look like you could use a decent nap," Leorio declared as he reached down and pulled Azalea to her feet.

Azalea scrunched up her nose and grimaced but didn't protest as the two teens steered her down the hall. Ten minutes and two hallways later, the three of them were camped out on a trio of futons in one of the small dorms. Azalea drifted off to sleep shortly after laying down despite her lingering irritation and fear; the past two days had taken quite a bit out of her despite the fact that she really hadn't done all that much physically when compared to all of the running that the other applicants had done.

She had expended a fair amount of magic though and she was more than a little wrung out emotionally due to constantly being put on edge every time she turned around. And that was on top of the grief and guilt that she was still suppressing.

She'd barely been asleep for ten minutes before she was pulled into one of Voldemort's visions; the first one since the Dark Lord had fed her the false vision of Sirius being tortured during her History of Magic O.W.L. Exam almost seven months earlier. She broke out into sweat as she tossed and turned restlessly in her sleep. Just seconds later, her scar split open as she began whimpering the moment her consciousness got caught up in the vision; drawing the attention of the two teens that had been trying to sleep just a few feet away from her.

Meanwhile, inside of Azalea's nightmare dream vision…

_Azalea stared out through the Dark Lord's eyes and felt a smile curl her lips as an agonized scream tore through the night. Turning, Azalea's gaze fell upon the broken body of Remus Lupin as Bellatrix tortured the werewolf with the Cruciatus Curse. Bile filled the back of Azalea's throat and her heart lurched to a stop as she witnessed the last link to her parents suffering at the hands of the woman that had killed her godfather. _

"_Enough, Bella," Voldemort ordered softly; the witch automatically obeying. "I will ask you one last time, werewolf, where has Dumbledore hidden the Potter girl?"_

"_Fuck you," Remus spat weakly as he coughed up blood. _

_Voldemort turned away from the man and looked into a mirror that was hanging off to his left so that Azalea was staring out at the reflection of the man that had hunted her since the day she'd been born as the Dark Lord addressed her, "I had so hoped that you would join us tonight, Harriet Potter. Tell me, are you enjoying the show? You know your loved ones would not have to suffer if you came to me of your own free will. If I have to hunt you down, you will only force me to torture and kill them all."_

_Voldemort then turned back to Remus's bloody form on the floor and raised his wand as he stated, "You are no longer of any use to me, werewolf; __**Avada Kedavra**__."_

_Green light filled Azalea's vision and engulfed Remus just seconds later and Azalea screamed in anger and anguish as the werewolf died the instant the spell washed over him._

"_**Remus**__!_" Azalea screamed as she bolted upright after tearing herself free from the vision. Her head exploded in pain a second later and her stomach rebelled violently. Unable to calm her cramping stomach, Azalea rolled forward onto her knees as she puked her guts out. Blood and tears streamed down her face as she sobbed out Remus's name several more times while slamming her fist on the floor several times as unending waves of anger, grief, guilt, and utter helplessness washed over her as the image of Remus's broken and lifeless body burned itself into the back of her mind.

"Was that you Mr. Doom and Gloom…? What happened? Are you alright?" Leorio asked worriedly as he sat up and peered at Azalea through the darkened room. "Oh shit, James, you're bleeding!"

"I'm fine," Azalea rasped hoarsely in response to the abrupt reminder that she wasn't alone. She immediately cut off her emotions (a habit left over from her years of living with the Dursleys), sat up, and wiped her face off as she added, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

Azalea then used her body to block her hands as she used a wandless Vanishing Spell to clean up her mess before she shakily climbed to her feet. She staggered sideways and nearly fell back into the floor when the pain behind her scar unexpectedly stabbed deeper into her brain. She pressed the palm of her hand against her scar in the hopes that it would ease the pain (and stop the bleeding). It took a several seconds, but once it no longer felt like her skull was going to split in two, she leaned down to grab her book bag, glasses, and hat before weaving her way towards the door.

"Where are you going, James? You're not in any condition to be wandering around right now."

"I'm fine."

"You're not fine; you're bleeding all over the place and can't even walk in a straight line."

"I'll live," Azalea replied in a weary tone as she glanced back at the older teen that had just climbed to his feet and the silent Kurapika who was sitting up and watching her now as well. "I always do."

The witch slipped out the door a moment later and groaned softly as the bright light filling the hallway seared into her brain and made her head hurt worse. Closing her eyes, Azalea leaned against the wall for a moment while she waited for the pain to dull again before she opened her eyes just enough to see where she was going as she searched for the nearest bathroom. Twenty-two minutes later, Azalea was leaning over a wash basin staring at her pale reflection as water dripped down her face. Her scar was still red and swollen and it stood out sharply against the paleness of her skin but it had at least finally stopped bleeding.

Now that she was no longer wrapped up in the vision, Azalea found herself worrying over whether or not the vision had been true or if it had been another false vision like the one Voldemort had shown her about Sirius. Half of her wanted to rush back to England to find out for herself but the other half of her kept reminding the rest of her that she needed more training. Sure, she'd learned to cast several spells wandlessly and wordlessly during the months she spent on the ship as well as increasing her repertoire of spells but she was still far too weak to face Voldemort.

Disgusted with herself, Azalea pushed away from the sink, slipped her glasses on her face, and left the bathroom to wander through the mostly empty corridors of the airship. She eventually ended up in the outermost hallway sitting on top of one of the small counters that ran beneath the windows lining the hallway. She then leaned back against the small divider that separated each window from its neighbors and stared down at the twinkling lights of some nameless city as she limply held her hat in her hands (her scar still far too sensitive for her to wear it).

After a while, Azalea pressed her forehead against the cold glass of the window and closed her eyes as she struggled to figure out what she should do; return home to warn the others and fight even though she'd not finished the exam or stay to finish the exam and potentially leave her friends to face Voldemort's wrath alone. Her troubled introspection was interrupted just a few minutes later when Gon and Killua laughingly spilled into the hallway as they were chased out of the kitchen by one of the airship's cooks.

Azalea cringed and reluctantly glanced in their direction as both twelve year olds caught sight of her a few seconds later and called out her alias in stereo as they bounded over to her, "James!"

"Are you alright, James? I can smell blood, are you hurt?" Gon asked worriedly as he skidded to a halt beside the sixteen year old. "Did someone attack you?"

"I'm fine," Azalea replied automatically as she avoided meeting Gon's eyes.

"Why do you look so pale?" Killua asked as he narrowed his eyes slightly. Azalea huffed in annoyance and turned back to face the window without saying a word. Ignoring the question only served to further annoy the boy as he petulantly declared, "You are so annoying."

"Said the kettle to the pot," Azalea tossed back as she glanced at Killua's reflection in the window.

"Where did Hedwig go, James?" Gon inquired as he glanced up and down the hallway.

"She's outside."

"Why do you have an owl anyway?" Killua demanded as he sat down on the bench that was situated in front of the window ledge where Azalea was sitting.

"She was a gift."

"What kind of person gives someone an owl for a present?"

"The best kind," Azalea replied softly as a fond smile briefly flittered across her face as she thought about Hagrid before the grief of leaving her friends behind and her worry about whether or not they were safe crashed down on her again.

Silence fell over the three of them at that point and Azalea let her eyes fall closed as she pressed her still aching scar to the cold window again. She was drifting in and out of sleep when Gon and Killua began chatting once more; Gon asking the other boy about his parents. Azalea's breath hitched briefly when she heard Killua state that he came from an entire family of assassins and that the rest of his family fully expected him to be an assassin. She relaxed slightly when the pale haired boy declared that he didn't want to be an assassin and that he hated killing before going into a full out rebellious rant over the fact that his family had been trying to tell him who he was supposed to be.

'_If Gon is the epitome of a Gryffindor, then Killua is Slytherin personified. The nosy little brat would give Draco a run for his money and make the little ferret piss his pants to boot,_' Azalea thought to herself as she opened her eyes to study both boys in the reflection of the glass only to catch sight of Chairman Netero watching the three of them from the hallway just a few feet to the right of where they were sitting.

A flash of _something_ filled the area and all three of the applicants stiffened the moment they sensed it. Gon and Killua both jumped to their feet and turned to face the hallway where Netero had been standing. Azalea on the other hand had seen the man vanish just after he'd done whatever it was that he'd done and she discreetly palmed her wand to cast _Homenum Revelio_ and discovered that the man was walking up to them from behind her.

"Is there something wrong boys?" Netero inquired in a tone that Azalea had long since learned to associate with Fred and George Weasley when they were planning a particularly good prank.

"Hey, Mr. Netero, did you see anyone over there just now?" Gon asked as he pointed towards the hallway where Azalea had just seen Netero watching them from.

"No."

_Not exactly a lie,_ _since it is hard to see yourself without a mirror or other reflective surface on hand,_ Azalea thought as she tightened her hold on her wand; the witch felt extremely antsy in the presence of the chairman thanks to the earlier quasi-interrogation the man had put her through. Her disgust over Tonpa's most recent attempt at bullying, her acute displeasure over having garnered Hisoka's attention without trying, and the lingering uneasiness she felt over the latest vision that Voldemort had sent her only added to her disquiet.

"You're pretty fast for an old man," Killua declared as he narrowed his eyes slightly and Azalea nearly snorted in amusement.

"Oh? You saw that little trick did you?" Netero countered playfully with a smile before he walked into Azalea's line of sight and addressed the witch next. "You're looking a little under the weather, young _man_; you should be resting."

"I was resting," Azalea retorted with a soft snort as she turned away from the chairman, her stomach twisting up in knots over the way the man had emphasized the word man; the witch worried that he knew she'd lied about her gender. "And then you turned up."

"What did you want, old man?" Killua demanded as he glanced between Azalea and Netero several times while the old man chuckled over Azalea's response.

"You don't have to be so rude young man. I was merely looking for a little entertainment to occupy myself with until we reached our destination. That reminds me, I have a question for the three of you."

Azalea jerked around so fast that she dumped herself off of the counter at the man's seemingly casual declaration that he wanted to ask them something and hit her left hip hard as she landed on the floor. Hissing in pain over her bruised hip, Azalea scrambled back up onto her feet and danced backwards as she turned so her right side was facing away from the chairman so that the man wouldn't see the wand she held firmly in her hand. She swiped her left arm over her brow to wipe away the sweat that had sprung forth as she worried what else the man wanted to know; unintentionally baring her lightning bolt scar to all three of those in the hall with her.

"You should be more careful, young man," Netero stated as his eyes briefly flicked up to Azalea's forehead before meeting her gaze. "Did you hurt yourself?"

"I'm fine," Azalea muttered as she reached up and smoothed her fringe back down over her scar as she silently cursed herself for a fool for not being more careful. She tore her gaze away from the old man's and desperately searched for her hat only to find Gon holding it out for her as the twelve year old had picked it up off the floor. Azalea accepted the hat back and jammed it onto her head (wincing as the leather brim scrapped over her still sensitive scar) and rasped out a soft, "Thanks."

"That is good to know, I suppose," Netero stated with a slight frown that quickly disappeared beneath a smile. "Anyway, I wanted to know what the three of you thought about your first attempt at the Hunter Examination."

"It's been really fun!" Gon exclaimed as he turned back to face the chairman. "I was really dreading the exam at first because I was worried that there would be a written test."

"I'm bored of the exam already," Killua complained right after Gon finished. "I was expecting the exam to be much harder."

"What about you, young man; what do you think of the exam?" Netero prompted when Azalea didn't offer her opinion.

"There're far too many annoying people involved."

Both Gon and Killua glanced at Azalea before they turned to look at each other and burst into laughter. Azalea snorted, rolled her eyes, and shook her head in response to their antics before she put her wand away and began walking away in the hopes that she could find herself a little privacy. The laughter cut off just seconds later as the two boys hurried to catch up to her.

"Don't go just yet," Chairman Netero requested before they'd gone very far. "I was wondering if the three of you would like to play a game with me."

"A game?" Gon repeated with unfeigned interest. "What kind of game?"

"A rather fun game and if you can defeat me, I will wave the need for you to take the rest of the exam and see to it that all three of you are given your Hunter Licenses."

"Really?" Gon demanded as his eyes filled with determination. "I want to play!"

"Perfect!" Netero crowed as he smiled again before he looked passed Gon to glance between Azalea and Killua. "How about it, you two; are either of you interested in playing as well?"

Azalea scowled; as tempting as it was to make an attempt to bypass the rest of the test, she wasn't sure she wanted to play because she didn't trust the man. She didn't get a chance to turn down the offer though as Gon grabbed hold of her sleeve and began dragging her back towards Netero. Killua let out a soft sigh and Azalea got the impression that the kid hadn't actually wanted to play either but would do so because of Gon. Netero practically beamed at the three of them as he turned around and led them through the ship to a large empty room with padded walls.

Gon didn't let go of Azalea until they were inside the room and the witch jammed her hands into her pocket as Netero pulled off his white and blue top to reveal the loose black tank top he'd been wearing underneath. The man then produced a yellow and black ball that he balanced on the finger of his left hand as he explained the rules of the game. Or rather, he gave them the only rule of the game; to take the ball from him before they reached their destination.

When the man told them that they were free to attack him however they wished in their efforts to take the ball, Azalea felt a rock form in the pit of her stomach as she realized that the man wanted to see what they could do. The two twelve year olds seemed a bit skeptical about the 'game' as well but Netero simply told them to try it first before deciding that it wasn't worth it.

Just before they started, Azalea spoke up for the first time since she'd answered the man's earlier question about the exam to ask, "What happens if we fail to take the ball? Are we going to be disqualified from the exam?"

"Oh, heavens no; I'm merely giving the three of you a chance to finish early," Netero quickly assured them when both Gon and Killua jumped a bit at the unexpected question. "If you don't beat me, then you simply have to finish the rest of the exam alongside the rest of the applicants."

Killua went first and Azalea didn't pay any attention as she stared down at the floor and thought about how she was going to play; if she was going to play. She shook her head and scowled; she would play, even if she didn't want to. The smallest chance that she could earn her Hunter's License now and not have to waste more time running through the exam was too great to pass up (even though she'd originally considered not playing the game despite the potential reward). The only question that remained was; how much of her skills was she willing to reveal to Netero, Killua, and Gon in order to play?

She glanced up in time to see Killua attempt to take out the old man's right leg (the man currently balancing on one foot) and Azalea thought for sure the younger boy had him until Killua grabbed his own leg and began complaining about the pain. Azalea furrowed her brow and started paying closer attention as Gon and Killua changed places and Gon attempted to attack the old man head on before suddenly jumping up so high he smacked his head on the ceiling. Azalea palmed her face over Gon's mistake before she snorted and silently though, '_Yep, definitely a Gryffindor,_' as Gon got up a minute later and immediately attacked the man again.

After a few more minutes of failed attacks, Gon attempted to switch out with Azalea but the witch told Killua to take another turn instead; she need more time to decide what she was going to do. That and she really wanted to study the old man a bit longer; to see what the man was capable of doing.

An hour later, Azalea still hadn't taken a turn and Gon and Killua were both sweating and panting heavily from their failed efforts to capture the ball. Gon had even stripped off his jacket and tossed it aside while Killua had peeled off the white t-shirt he wore over his dark blue turtleneck. During that time, Azalea had noted that Netero never used his left leg or his right arm to block the boys' attacks. She also hadn't failed to see that all three of them were far more physically fit than Azalea was; meaning that Azalea would have no real advantage outside of her magic.

"This is starting to get boring," Netero suddenly declared as both Killua and Gon stopped to catch their breath. "Why don't the three of you try attacking me all at once? It's about time your other friend started playing along anyway; seeing as how he's not bothered to join it at all yet."

"I was curious to see what you could do," Azalea stated with a shrug as she slipped off her book bag and set it on the floor beside the door before she began buttoning up her dragon-hide cloak over the blue t-shirt she was wearing so that the edges of the cloak wouldn't get in the way.

She then moved up away from the wall and settled into a defensive dueler's stance with her right foot forward, the right side of her body angled towards Netero, her left arm curled up so that her hand was nearly touching her hat (for balance), and her right arm held straight out in front of her with her palm facing outwards. Azalea then closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths before she pulled on her magic and prepared to use a few of the wandless spells that she'd been able to fully master since she had no desire to reveal her status as a full-fledged witch to the chairman.

She also feared that if she used her wand during the game the amount of magic she could potentially end up using would disable the entire airship because magic and technology didn't usually mix very well.

"Ready when you are," Azalea stated as she opened her eyes to reveal emerald irises that glittered with dozens of golden dust motes of pure magic from the shadows beneath her hat; a side effect of teaching herself how to cast wandlessly due to the amount of magic flowing through her body increasing each time she cast a spell without using a focus – her blood slowly attuning itself to her magic so that it could one day completely take the place of her wand.

Gon let out a laugh and promptly attacked with Killua joining in at the last second from another direction. Azalea in the mean time kept her eyes on Netero (who'd not taken his eyes off of Azalea) and waited for the perfect moment to attack. Just before the old man made to dodge the twin attacks that the younger boys had launched, Azalea flicked and snapped her wrist to cast a wandless sticking charm on Netero's right foot that prevented him from jumping out of the way of the twin attack. The man's eyes widened comically before he broke free of the weak charm at the last second; which resulted in Gon and Killua colliding into one another face first.

Azalea merely smirked and made a grabbing motion with her right fingers as she pulled the hand back towards her to cast a wandless summoning spell. Netero's eyebrows rose in surprise even as he snatched the ball back out of the air before Azalea's spell could completely capture it. By that time, both boys had recovered and returned to attack Netero in turns one right after the other in order to avoid banging into each other again. Azalea continued to use an assortment of sticking charms and summoning charms in an effort to trip the man up and break the ball away from him.

After another hour had passed, Azalea added in wandless banishing charms and a freezing spell to shove the ball out of the man's grasp and further hinder his footing as she felt herself growing annoyed by the lack of success. Both boys had continuously moved about the room as they attacked Netero while Azalea never moved more than a foot from where she started and that was only to dodge Gon and Killua whenever the old man would toss one of them at Azalea in an attempt to knock the witch over.

At the end of the third hour, Azalea started throwing out weak stinging hexes as well in order to irritate the man even as she started to struggle with her wandless casting as she inevitably grew exhausted. Her shirt and pants were soaked in sweat by that time and even her cloak clung to her uncomfortably due to the charms struggling to keep up with her exertions (wizards were not the most active of individuals, after all). Her hat had been knocked off at some point and her short hair was even messier than usual as it stuck to her face and the back of her neck because of the sweat.

And her right hand and arm burned from the sheer amount of magic she'd used. Panting, Azalea tried to catch her breath as she watched Gon attack Netero straight on with a kick. Just when it looked like the kid would miss, he kicked off his shoe and caught the man under the chin while Killua landed a hit on the back of his head and lunged for the ball.

Netero used his foot to kick the ball away from the boy and Azalea used the opportunity to cast another summoning charm at the ball in order to keep Netero from getting his hands on it again. Gon then kicked his other shoe at the ball in order to send it flying towards the opposite wall and both twelve year olds dove at it. They were just about to catch the ball when Netero blasted between them and caught the ball at the last second while Gon and Killua both went flying in opposite directions.

Azalea groaned and dropped down onto her knees; the witch completely and utterly spent and more than a little pissed at herself for not being stronger or sneakier. Propping her hands on her knees, Azalea bowed her head and bit back the scream of frustration she felt rising inside while trying to avoid giving into the temptation to pull out her wand in order to stun or bind the man so she could take the ball. The problem was that she didn't have enough strength left to stun a house fly and she was frightened of what would happen to her should the man see her using her wand.

Killua quit the game at that point, loudly stating that the old man was just playing with them as he pointed out the same thing that Azalea had noticed earlier; the old man hadn't even bothered using his right arm or left leg. Killua tried to get Gon to leave with him but Gon stayed as he declared that he no longer cared about getting the ball; he just wanted to make Netero use his right arm. Killua snorted in disbelief and shook his head before he stalked off muttering under his breath about weirdos.

"Are you going to stay as well, James?" Gon asked as he bounded over to Azalea's side. "Why do you look all pasty gray? Are you sick? Maybe you should go get some rest; you don't look so good."

"I'm fine," Azalea insisted despite the fact that she knew she wasn't; it was an ingrained response though and one she'd give even if she knew she was dying.

Gon looked skeptical but he didn't say another word as his attention was soon drawn back to Netero who'd begun bouncing the ball in his left hand. Azalea simply sat back on her heels and watched while she tried to catch her breath; she was far too exhausted to help Gon at the moment and the kid looked as if he was having far too much fun anyway. Thirty minutes later, Gon had just succeeded in his self assigned task of making Netero use his right hand (getting himself knocked out in the process) when Azalea was suddenly hit with Voldemort's fury.

Physically, magically and emotionally exhausted as she was, Azalea had no protection against the Dark Lord's invading emotions and she let out a sharp cry when her scar split open once more. Her hands flew up to her face to clasp her head as her blood poured over her hands and down her face. It was sheer agony for Azalea and she dropped forward so that her head touched the ground and let out another cry as Voldemort's anger continued to grow and rip through her mind.

The last thing she saw before she passed out from the pain was Netero's concerned face as the old man leaned down to roll her over so he could see at her face.


	7. Hospitals x and x Histories

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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><p><span>Chapter Seven: Hospitals x and x Histories<span>

Azalea came to several hours later and groaned as her head began throbbing the moment she moved it. She reached up to press her hand to her head and froze when she found her forehead swathed in bandages. She frowned a moment later when she noted that she was feeling far colder than she should given the fact that she had been wearing her dragon-hide cloak. She was also vaguely aware of something pinching her left hand. Opening her eyes, Azalea groaned again as she stared up at the blurry white walls and ceiling of what could only be a hospital room.

She'd spent enough time in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts and in the Nurse's Office at primary school to recognize the sight, feel, and scent of a hospital room (even an unfamiliar one).

Pushing herself up, Azalea winced as her head throbbed again and she scowled as she glanced down to find that she had been striped out of her clothes and dressed in nothing but a thin cotton hospital gown and thin cotton pants. The pinching in her left hand turned out to be an IV needle that was attached to a bag of saline solution. A search of her immediate surroundings turned profitable as she located her glasses sitting on the small table beside the bed and she quickly slipped them on her face. Vision restored, Azalea soon found her things neatly stacked on the chair beside the table and she blanched when she noticed her wand sitting innocently enough near the very top of the stack beneath her leather fedora.

"How are you feeling, kid?"

Azalea whipped around to stare at the man that had addressed her. He was tall, with light brown hair liberally peppered with gray and white, pale hazel eyes that were open and friendly, and a pencil thin mustache over full lips. He was also wearing a white lab coat over mint green scrubs; indicating that the man was either a doctor or a nurse.

"How did I get here?" Azalea asked instead of answering the man's question. "And who are you?"

"I'm Doctor Neil Mackle and Chairman Netero brought you to me after you collapsed from blood loss and severe exhaustion. Are you still in any pain?"

"I'm fine."

"Pull the other one kid, it has bells on."

"I am fine, just a mild headache; I've had worse," Azalea insisted as she frowned up at the doctor.

"Some how that doesn't surprise me," Dr. Mackle dryly retorted as he fished out a small one dose packet of pain killers from his pocket and handed it to Azalea. "Take that, it will help your headache; make sure you drink at least a full glass of water with it so you don't upset your stomach. Or, if you prefer, I can get you a bowl of soup or porridge first so that you aren't taking it on an empty stomach."

"How much time until we reach the location for the next phase of the exam?" Azalea asked as she stared down at the foil pack of two pills labeled as Tylenol.

"Just over two hours and no, those won't knock you back out; so, you don't have to worry about missing Phase Three."

Azalea sighed softly and deftly used her teeth to open the little packet before tossing both pills into her mouth and swallowing them dry. The doctor blinked at her in surprise before rolling his eyes and gesturing to the pitcher of water sitting on the table beside the bed. Azalea huffed but obediently poured herself out a glass of water and drank it down while the doctor removed the IV, pressed a small cotton ball to the tiny wound, and secured the cotton in place with a strip of clear tape.

"Now that that's taken care of, there are a couple of questions I'd like to ask you."

"What did you want to know?" Azalea asked warily as her eyes tracked the clipboard that the man had brandished at her as he made his declaration.

"Have you ever injured your right arm aside from the wound that caused your scar?"

"I broke it once."

"How old were you when that happened?"

"Twelve."

"Ah, thank you. Next question; are you up to date on all of your childhood immunizations?"

"Um… I don't know. Is that going to be a problem?"

"No. If you give me the name of your family doctor I can contact him or her and get your medical records faxed to me so I can check them myself."

"I don't have one."

"Oh. Now that might be a problem. Did your parents take you to a clinic when you were sick then?"

"My parents are dead and I was never sick growing up."

"I see. Well, if you pass the Exam you can expect to be given a full course of vaccinations then; it is required for all Hunters because we often end up exposed to a wide assortment of germs, bacteria, and viruses during the course of our duties."

"Oh. Okay."

"Good. Next question; do you know what kind of snake it was that bit you?"

"Um… snake?" Azalea asked nervously as she immediately thought of the basilisk from her second year.

"Yes, your blood contained an abnormally high concentration of antibodies associated with a reptilian antivenin but I was unable to determine what kind of snake it was that bit you. I need to make note of the creature in your file in case there are complications later down the line or in the event that you are bit again at some point."

"It was big, ugly, and angry," Azalea replied after a few minutes. "I can't tell you what it was though."

"Can't be helped I suppose. Can you at least tell me when and where it bit you?"

"I was twelve and it bit my right arm."

"Was that before or after you broke your arm?"

"After. Was that all you needed?"

"Yes, we're finished now, kid," Dr. Mackle replied as he finished writing down Azalea's answers and lowered the clipboard to study the teen for a moment. He then shook his head and stated, "You strike me as type of person that dislikes hospitals and doctors in general so feel free to change back into your personal clothes while I go put together your release forms so you can be on your way."

"Thanks," Azalea murmured in relief as she gingerly slipped off of the bed and gave her legs a moment to adjust to holding her weight before she crossed over to the chair after the doctor pulled the dividing curtain around the bed to give her some privacy before he walked off.

The first thing she did was inspect her wand to make certain that it hadn't been tampered with before she dove into her bag to get a clean set of clothes since she'd been wearing the other ones since they'd disembarked from the boat two or three days earlier. This time she chose a pair of black jeans, a red undershirt, and a deep gold button up shirt. She then tucked her wand into the left sleeve where it was both safe and out of sight before she sat down to put on her socks and boots.

She reached up and took off the bandages wrapped around her forehead next and dumped them into the trash can; already knowing there was no need for the protection because her scar had long since stopped bleeding. She was just shrugging on her dragon-hide cloak when the doctor returned carrying a thicker than expected packet of papers. The friendly doctor then spent the next twenty minutes going over each and every form in the stack as he had Azalea sign her name in multiple places, place her initials in other spots, and fill out the various sections that the doctor hadn't been able to complete because she'd been unconscious at the time she'd been brought in.

Lastly, the doctor handed her copies of the forms she'd just signed along with a large handful of the single dose packets of Tylenol with instructions to take one pack (or two pills) every six to eight hours until her headache (and any other pain she was feeling but refused to acknowledge) faded. The man then kicked Azalea out of the Infirmary and told her to stay out as long as humanly possible.

Azalea gaped at the closed door in shock as Dr. Mackle was the complete opposite of Madam Pomfrey who would practically glue her patients to the bed for days or weeks at a time over a splinter. She then shook her head and let out a soft laugh as she decided that she much preferred Dr. Mackle's approach over Madam Pomfrey's. Sighing, Azalea slung her book bag over her shoulder and tucked her hands into pockets as she wandered off down the hall.

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><p>Netero watched 'James' wander off down the hall from where he'd stopped in the shadows the moment the door to the infirmary had opened and the young lady he'd come to check on had been pushed out the door by Dr. Mackle. Once the teen had disappeared from sight, the aged Hunter sighed and headed into the infirmary where he found Dr. Mackle making notes in what the chairman knew would be the medical file of the young lady that had just left.<p>

He waited for the doctor to finish writing before he cleared his throat and asked, "Well?"

"Whoever raised her ought to be drawn and quartered," Dr. Mackle groused as he glanced up from the file and scowled at the older man. "The x-rays you ordered me to take confirmed your suspicion that the girl had gone through frequent periods of prolonged malnutrition and possible starvation that lasted anywhere from two days to two weeks at a time throughout her early childhood. She's damn lucky that she only ended up physically stunted with a slightly weakened bone structure when it could have been far worse."

"She's been eating better for at least the last five years but there is evidence that she still does not eat as much as she should or as often as she should with two month long periods of time where her diet drops back to what it was during her childhood. The oddest thing I discovered when I was reviewing her x-rays was that the bones in her right arm are several years younger than the rest of the bones in her body. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say her right arm is only about four years old while the rest of her is sixteen."

"It boggles the mind; I mean really, who ever heard of someone growing an arm later in life? The bones in that arm are also much stronger than the rest of the bones in her body; as if they never suffered through the long years of malnutrition that the rest of her body had. I'd almost be tempted to say the arm was transplanted but there is no sign of a surgical scar and that arm carries the same D.N.A. structure as the rest of her body; I checked. She did say she broke that arm when she was twelve but that wouldn't explain the age difference."

"What else did you learn about her?"

"She never received her childhood immunizations nor has she ever caught any of the normal childhood diseases as she lacks the antibodies for the most common ones such as Chicken Pox. That in itself is rather unusual as she should have been highly susceptible to those diseases due to the frequent malnutrition; since a lack of a proper diet should have left her with a weakened immune system. There were a small handful of antibodies that I could not identify; though they were fairly similar to those you'd expect to find for the common childhood diseases. When asked, she claimed ignorance on the matter and assured me that she'd never been sick growing up."

"If that weren't odd enough, I also found an exceedingly high concentration of a powerful antivenin running through her blood; meaning she had at some point been bitten by a venomous snake. I have not yet pinpointed what species of snake it was that she encountered but I do know that it was deadly and that its venom was made up of a combination of both neurotoxins and cytotoxins based upon the types of antibodies present in the antivenin. I also found no physical evidence of a snake bite and suspect the delivery of the snake venom was not through natural means."

"Did you question the young lady about the snake before you released her?"

"Yes. She grew exceedingly nervous about it and claimed she didn't know what it was that bit her. She told me that it was big, ugly, and angry but gave no actual description. Coincidentally, she claimed that the snake also bit her on the right arm around the same time as she broke her arm. I'd hazard a guess that she knows more than she claims and that she is also frightened of the truth getting out; which leads me to believe that the one responsible is still at large."

"If she passes the exam we can address the matter with her again. What else do you have to report?"

"I analyzed her scars as you requested but was only able to identify the cause of roughly half of them. The scar on her forehead appears to have been carved with a knife and the surrounding tissue samples indicated that she has had it for more than a decade. I was unable to find an underlying cause as to why it ripped opened the way it did but based upon the way the kid automatically reached for it upon waking I'd say that is a familiar occurrence."

"The gouge in the crook of her elbow was caused by a crude and unsanitized blade and is less than two years old. The marks on the back of her left shoulder are difficult to place as they look like claw marks but the number, size, and shape is inconsistent with any animal I am familiar with. They are also far too jagged to have been caused by a normal blade, though I suppose it could have been a rough made tool of some sort."

"And the scar on the back of her hand?"

"That one is the oddest of all. It looks as if someone actually carved the words into her hand with the sharp nib of a calligraphy pen. The varying thicknesses of the lines and the way they loop and cling together would have been impossible to create with a penknife or even a scalpel. They are also far deeper than I expected them to be despite the fact that they are so neatly placed; as if the words had been carved over and over again in the exact same place. The most troubling thing is that the handwriting of the scar is a near match for the girl's handwriting though the differences may be attributed to the use of different writing mediums as a pen does not form letters the same way as a nib would."

"That is troubling indeed. The words chosen and her obvious reluctance to speak of the scar in the first place were just as disturbing. Though, to be fair, she hadn't wanted to speak of any of her scars. Was there anything else?"

"Yes, her brain activity was unexpectedly high while she was unconscious and the percentage of the brain she utilized rapidly increased in two point five unit increments from the moment she first began regaining consciousness. As you know, normal humans utilize roughly ten percent of their brain while conscious and most of those that become Hunters use twice that amount; she was using fifteen percent while unconscious."

"The moment she became conscious it jumped up to seventeen point five percent, it jumped up to an even twenty when she moved her hand to touch her head, and then to twenty-two point five the moment she opened her eyes. By the time I spoke to her, she was utilizing twenty-five percent of her brain and I got the impression that something was blocking her from using her brain to the fullest."

"And last, but by no means least, the girl's body heals itself at a phenomenal rate as I witnessed the scar on her forehead seal itself shut over a matter of seconds not long after you delivered her to me. She should have been unconscious for at least another eight to twelve hours given how much blood she'd lost by the time you brought her to me when coupled with the level of sheer exhaustion I could feel radiating from her and yet she was only out for roughly six hours."

"Remarkable."

"You will send her to see me again for a complete physical if she passes the Exam?" Dr. Mackle half inquired and half ordered.

"Yes, I will have to, seeing as how she claimed that she'd never before been to see a doctor for a complete check up. Do try not to frighten her away with an inordinate amount of testing when that time comes, Dr. Mackle; she's skittish enough as it is."

The good doctor just waved the chairman off as he walked away, the man already compiling a list of tests he planned to run the young lady through the moment he got his hands on the girl again. Netero almost regretted bringing the girl to the man's attention as Mackle had a tendency to hound those patients that caught his attention but he'd been disturbed by what had happened to the small teen.

He wasn't certain if it was the sheer amount of agony he could hear in the young lady's voice or the sheer volume of blood pouring from her head that had disturbed him more. He was at least thankful that Ging's son had knocked himself out prior to whatever fit it was that young lady had had since he suspected the younger boy would have grown defensive over the teen based upon the way the child tended to hover over the older girl.

As he left the Infirmary, Netero reflected on everything that he'd learned about the recalcitrant teen that had drawn the attention of examiners and applicants alike. The old man also couldn't help the thread of worry that had filled him from the moment he'd seen and recognized the jagged scar upon the girl's brow. The moment he had seen that scar, he'd known exactly who it was that was standing before him; though, if he were honest with himself, he'd suspected she was a witch from the moment he'd first seen the girl's vivid green eyes amongst the crowd of applicants when he intervened during the second task.

Watching the young lady recklessly rise and fall with the updrafts at the top of Mt. Split-in-Half had been yet another clue as it was patently obvious to anyone that had ever seen a mage fly that the girl was using a broom to pull off her tricks. It had been because of that stunt that Netero had chosen to question the girl himself instead of letting one of the examiners handle filling out her application. Drawing out her answers had been like pulling teeth from an angry bear without the benefit of a sedative to subdue the bear. He knew the teen had been annoyed with him after that; it had been quite obvious.

Netero next let his thoughts turn back to the three and a half hours he'd spent playing around with the young lady and the two boys and he couldn't help but smirk.

He knew he'd annoyed the young Zoldyck; he'd done it on purpose to see if the child had any self control and he'd been impressed when the boy had chosen to quit and walk away instead of attempting to kill him in anger (though he knew the child had been the one to kill the two applicants that had been found dead in the hallways – after the two older men had provoked him further according to the surveillance video). Ging's young son had impressed him as well; the child's determination to reach his self assigned goal had been a sight to see.

But the witch, she had utterly surprised him when she'd cleverly resorted to using wandless magic in her efforts to capture the ball after spending the first hour analyzing his moves.

That reminder of the child's remarkable ability brought Netero's thoughts back around full circle and he paused to watch the passing landscape as he softly asked himself, "What could have driven that young lady to the Hunter Association, when by rights she should have been safely ensconced at Hogwarts under Dumbledore's thumb? What could a powerful half-trained witch like Harriet Potter need from us that she couldn't have gotten from the rest of the magicals? Maybe it is time we pay a visit to the various magical societies spread throughout the world to insure that they are upholding their part of the treaty we signed with them after the fiasco that Gellert Grindelwald unleashed upon Europe."

* * *

><p>Azalea eventually found herself in the Dining Hall an hour and a half after leaving the Infirmary and after a moment's hesitation, she set about fixing herself a small plate of fresh fruit, sausages, and toast before finding a seat off in the corner. She ate rather mechanically as she fretted over the vision she'd had the night before and the anger she'd felt from the Dark Lord just a few hours after the vision. She'd eaten about half of what she'd served herself when she came to the conclusion that she was either going to have to quit the exam so she could go home and find out what was going on or she needed to write a letter and send it off with Hedwig and pray her owl could quickly and safely make it to England and back in order to get some answers.<p>

"Good morning, Mr. Doom and Gloom! I must say you're looking much better than you did last night," Leorio loudly announced as he spotted Azalea sitting in the shadows all alone.

"Good morning, James," Kurapika offered a few minutes later as both teens joined Azalea at her table. "Do you know if Gon and Killua are alright? We haven't seen either of the two boys since they took off to explore the airship last night."

"They should be fine," Azalea replied as she paused mid-bite and tried to recall what had happened to both boys. She frowned a bit when she realized she had no clue what had happened to either one of them after she'd passed out. "I was with them for at least four hours but Killua stalked off after he got angry at Chairman Netero over the stupid game and I don't know what happened to Gon after I fell unconscious."

"Game? What game?" Leorio asked in confusion while at the same time Kurapika demanded, "What do you mean you fell unconscious? What happened? Did Hisoka or Tonpa attack you?"

"Chairman Netero challenged the three of us to a game with the prize being our Hunter's Licenses if we won. All we had to do was take the ball from him. I think his intention was to see what we were capable of doing rather than seriously looking to pass us early. He's ridiculously strong and even when all three of us were working together, we couldn't take the ball from him; he was bloody annoying too. And no, I haven't seen the ugly toad or the creep since the confrontation last night."

"Wait, wait, wait… are you saying that you were given a chance to skip the last half of the Exam!?" Leorio hissed as he slammed his hand down on the table.

"Doesn't matter; we failed it anyway."

"If you weren't attacked, how did you end up unconscious?" Kurapika inquired after he kicked Leorio under the table when it looked like the taller man was going to lay into Azalea about the unfairness of the offer she'd had to pass early.

"I was a little tired."

"A little tired?"

"Are you really so desperate to get your Hunter's License that you risked seriously harming yourself to fight a full fledged Hunter?" Leorio asked softly. "You looked like shit last night, James. I knew I shouldn't have let Kurapika talk me in to letting you have a bit of space; only I was rather exhausted after all of the running we did in the First Phase and didn't put up as much of a protest as I should have."

"I don't have a choice."

"Why don't you have a choice?"

Azalea glanced away from both of the older teens and shook her head; her mind playing an endless loop of '_either must die at the hands of the other_' while she saw Cedric, Sirius, and Remus's deaths over and over again. She was startled out of her downward spiral by the intercom crackling to life as the voice of Beans announced their imminent arrival at the location of the Third Phase and urged all fifty-four remaining applicants to gather their belongings. Azalea frowned as she noted the number of applicants remaining had dropped by two before she pushed the matter out of her mind as she shoved her plate away and dug a quill, ink bottle, and parchment out from her bag as she finally reached her decision about what she needed to do.

Ignoring the questioning looks that the other two teens were giving her, Azalea opened the ink, dipped the nib into the bottle, and began hastily scrawling out a message to Fred and George; the two she believed would have the best chance of getting the information she was seeking.

_Gred and Forge, _

_I need to know what is happening back home. I saw Professor Lupin the same way  
>that I saw your dad and Sirius and I'm worried about him. You-Know-Who is also<br>looking to target the Ministry Six and those associated with them; please let the  
>Order know. <em>

_You can send word back with Hedwig; she'll wait for it._

_Be careful guys. _

_AP_

The moment she finished, she replaced the lid on the ink bottle, cleaned the excess ink from her quill, and waved the letter to dry the ink. She then rolled it up tight and returned everything to her book bag. Pulling out her wand, Azalea dropped both hands inside of the sack as if to search for something so she could hide her wand as she sealed the letter with several security charms to prevent a Death Eater from getting a hold of her message. Once that was finished, she tucked away her wand and pulled out a length of twine so she could secure the letter to Hedwig's leg once she was outside.

By that time, the airship had landed and all of the remaining applicants were advised to exit the ship. Azalea snagged the last two sausages from her plate and took off running towards the exit. Kurapika and Leorio scrambled to hurry after her; both of them had been caught off guard by Azalea's strange (to them) behavior. The three of them were amongst the last to leave the blimp and Azalea barely spared a glance at the other applicants as she darted away from the crowd and let out a shrill, piercing whistle that drew everyone's attention to her.

She let out a second, longer whistle when Hedwig didn't immediately drop down to join her and she began to fear that something might have happened to her. Her fears were relieved just seconds later as the owl came barreling up from behind her and knocked her hat off with her wing as she landed on her shoulder. Laughing softly, she coaxed her down onto her arm as she praised her while making certain that she was alright; feeding her bites of the sausage she'd brought with her since she knew that Hedwig would not have bothered stopping to hunt during the flight.

"Hey gorgeous, I know you must be tired but I need you to take a letter to the troublesome twins for me. It's important that you get it to them as quickly as you can and that you wait for a reply before you return. Don't let anyone else take it and don't let anyone see you, girl," Azalea murmured as she affixed the letter to Hedwig's leg once both pieces of sausage were gone. She then slipped out her wand to cast the Disillusionment Charm over the owl in order to help hide her on her journey while using her body to block what she was doing from the other applicants. Hedwig barked irritably as the spell washed over her before she gently nipped Azalea on the nose and took flight once more; her wings stirring Azalea's hair as she rose up into the air as the witch called out a soft, "Safe journey, girl."

She stared off in the direction she felt her leave in and prayed that she hadn't just sent her faithful familiar to her death before she leaned down to pick up her hat up off the ground. Azalea had barely straightened up before she was tackled from behind by a cheerful Gon while Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio watched from a distance. Settling her hat back into place on her head, Azalea absently patted Gon on the head; something that pleased the twelve year old to no end as it was the first time the witch had initiated any physical contact with the boy (not counting when she'd helped him up off the floor or up onto her broom during the First Phase).

"Come on, they're going to explain the Third Phase now," Gon declared as he let go of Azalea's waist and grabbed hold of her sleeve so he could drag her back towards where all of the other contestants were waiting. The other three openly laughed at her when they saw the look of resignation that had settled on Azalea's face. Azalea mentally sighed as she began to suspect that Gon would continue to drag her from place to place no matter what.

"Welcome to the top of Trick Tower and the starting point for Phase Three," Beans stated once the two of them had fallen into place beside the others. "In order to pass this part of the Exam, you must reach the base of the tower alive within the seventy-two hour time limit. If there are no questions, we will begin the Third Phase now." Several of the applicants began muttering under their breath but when no one actually spoke out with any questions, Beans smiled at them as he gave his parting words, "I wish you all luck and will pray for your health."

Azalea and the four companions that she'd somehow managed to pick up watched as Beans returned to the airship. The huge blimp then lifted off the tower's top a minute later and Azalea glanced around to find all of the other applicants glancing nervously at each other and the edges of the tower. Gon and Killua both hurried to the closest edge and peered over the side with Azalea, Kurapika, and Leorio following after them after a brief hesitation. Azalea let out a whistle of appreciation as she tried to judge the distance from the top of the tower to the base.

They were still staring over the side of the tower when the applicant wearing badge number eighty-six lowered himself down over the side and began climbing down using nothing but his hands. Two minutes later, four giant red and pink beasts with huge mouths filled with sharp teeth and human looking faces plucked the man off the wall and carried him off. All five of the teens swallowed thickly as they shared a quick, nervous glance.

"You know, I'd been hoping for another chance to fly but I think it's far too early in the morning for my feet to leave the ground," Killua deadpanned as he followed the monsters' flight.

"What's to stop them from plucking us off the top of the tower?" Azalea softly inquired as she returned her gaze back to the ground below. "Those creatures had to have been trained to only guard the walls of the tower or else we'd have been turned into snacks the moment we were dropped onto the tower. So there is a slight chance that the ones carried off are simply being escorted back to Zaban City or some other place from which they can be sent off on their way. I doubt that many people actually die during the exams or otherwise there wouldn't be as many applicants each year as there are."

"Are you willing to bet your life on that?" Leorio asked. "Or your Hunter's License?"

"We're already betting our lives and our licenses on that," Azalea countered as she glanced up to meet Leorio's gaze. "If we weren't, we sure as hell wouldn't be standing here now; would we?"

"So how are we going to get down?" Gon asked before Leorio could make a retort as he climbed to his feet.

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong> Definitions

Cytotoxins – venom that attacks the cell tissues  
>Neurotoxins – venom that attacks the nervous system<p> 


	8. Cheaters x Never x Prosper

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Eight: Cheaters x Never x Prosper<span>

The five of them split up into two groups a few minutes later with Kurapika and Azalea meandering around the edge of the tower to see if there were stairs or another potential way down the outside of the tower while Leorio, Killua, and Gon began searching along the surface of the tower for any clues or hidden doors. Azalea was more than a little thankful for the reprieve from Leorio's brashness, Gon's cheerful enthusiasm, and Killua's uncomfortable prying. Every few steps, Azalea would crouch down and scan the side of the tower with a few spells using her wand (making certain to hide what she was doing with her body) while Kurapika trickled water over the edge in an effort to determine whether or not there were invisible or disguised stairs (since the water would be trapped mid-air if there was something hidden there).

After they'd covered roughly one quarter of the tower's circumference, Kurapika hesitantly broke the surprisingly comfortable silence that had sprung up between them, "Can I ask you something?"

"What about?" Azalea asked warily in return.

"Gon. Why do you allow him to keep dragging you back to the group when you obviously prefer your solitude?"

"It's complicated," Azalea replied after they moved onto the next section. "And I actually don't have a preference for solitude."

"What do you mean?"

Azalea didn't reply as she checked the next stretch of wall before she cast a wide area detection charm to make certain that there was no one standing near enough to overhear her. Another flick of her wand had a privacy bubble surrounding the two of them as she sat down on the edge of the cliff top and let her legs hang over the side. After a moment, the blond sat down just a few feet away from Azalea and glanced at her a couple of times; the slightly older teen patiently waiting for Azalea to answer the question.

"I'm an orphan; the last surviving member of an extraordinary family with a rather unique ability. What little I learned about my father's family over the past five years told me that most of my family was killed simply because of who they were, what they could do, and what they stood for. On top of that, my parents made powerful enemies of their own and there were other complications that would have made them targets even without those abilities. The moment I was born, there was a target painted on my head simply because of who my parents were and what they'd done. I'm sure you can imagine what happens to the people that associate with me due to that same target."

"They get caught in the crossfire or they are targeted in order to hurt you."

"It took me five years to fully understand that and to realize how stupid and naïve I'd been. My parents had sacrificed themselves to protect me. My closest friends have been hospitalized two and three times a year because of me. An older classmate I once had a crush on was killed in front of me after we'd been kidnapped from our school. My godfather died trying to save me from a trap that I'd stupidly rushed into because I was tricked into thinking that I needed to save him. And I fear that my honorary uncle may have been tortured to death in an attempt to find me after I left home to get the training that I wasn't getting from those who should have seen me prepared to deal with everything."

"I'm not here to make friends; I'm here because I don't want to die and because I know I'm not yet strong enough to fight a man fifty years my senior or the hundreds of men and women that are at his beck and call. I was on that ship for six months before Gon boarded and I spent that time reading and training. I ignored the other applicants (so much so that I have no idea when you or Leorio boarded the ship), learned a few useful tricks and skills from the crew, and waited for the day the ship reached its final destination. And then Gon turned up and he's been dragging me around ever since the captain booted us off the boat."

"Why do you let him though?"

"It's not that I let him; it's more that I don't know how to get him to stop. He doesn't take no for an answer. I flat out told him I was trying to ditch him during the First Phase. I think that only made him even more determined to drag me along. I think the biggest problem though is that he reminds me of me when I was his age and I can't help but want to protect his innocence because I know how much it hurts to have that innocence ripped away by the cold cruel world we live in. It helps that those who are hunting me have no idea where I am and that they'd never dare to come looking for me here because they fear Hunters. Although, knowing that Hisoka is interested in me now might just be enough of a reason for me to disappear."

"I doubt that would stop Gon; he strikes me as the stubborn type," Kurapika dryly pointed out as he climbed back up onto his feet and resumed drizzling water over the side.

Azalea chuckled weakly as she too stood up and dropped the privacy bubble as they moved on to the next section. The companionable silence from earlier soon returned as they steadily worked their way another quarter of the way around the tower before Kurapika asked yet another question.

"Why did you tell me all of that? I'm not complaining or anything but you'd been so reluctant to speak of your reasons for being here and your past all of the other times one of us asked that I actually hadn't really expected you to answer me."

"I hate being alone and I hate second guessing myself. I needed and wanted someone to understand why I am doing what I am and out of our ragtag group, I knew that you'd be the one most likely to understand me. Gon is too young and innocent, Leorio is too hotheaded and short tempered, and I'm unsure what to make of Killua and the little brat annoys me with his freaking super human skills of observation as he inevitably always knows just what to say to put me on edge. The biggest reason I didn't say anything sooner though, was because there were far too many people around and I was still hoping to ditch the lot of you."

"You had several opportunities during the First and Second Phase."

"And each time one of those opportunities arose, a certain little spiky haired midget jumped in and crushed it with a ruthlessness that rivals Hedwig's hunting skills; all while wearing a smile."

Kurapika laughed at Azalea's response and Azalea snorted and shook her head even as she felt as if a weight had just been lifted from her shoulders. The two of them continued to chat as they steadily worked their way through the next section and like when she'd been playing in the uplift during the second try of the Second Phase, Azalea felt as if she was simply a normal teen hanging out with a friend. When they started on the final quarter, the moment of playfulness vanished as Kurapika haltingly spoke of how his entire clan had been slaughtered for their eyes.

The shared pain of their tragic pasts helped forge a bond between the two in that moment. There was no pity, no empty platitudes, and no discomfort between them; just simple acceptance. Not even Ron, Horatio, or Ginny had ever been able to relate to Azalea in the same way that Kurapika could and did. Just knowing there was someone who understood what she had gone through and what she was still going through eased a little of the guilt and grief that had been dogging her heels from the moment she'd made her decision to take the Hunter's Exam.

When they reached their original starting point (which Azalea had marked with a spell), they both sighed with mild frustration over the lack of success and turned inwards to study the plateau. Azalea frowned as she glanced at the number of people meandering back and forth across the tower.

"There are a lot of people missing," Kurapika stated as he too frowned. "I can only see twenty-nine people and there were fifty-four applicants when we exited the airship."

"So that means almost half of the applicants have located one or more hidden doors leading down inside of the Trick Tower or they've been picked off by the flying creatures," Azalea observed as she searched for and soon found the other half of their group. "Let's join Gon and the others and see if they'd had any better luck finding a way down."

"Alright, take care where you're walking as the doors could be anywhere and we don't want to get separated."

"Don't even joke about that," Azalea groused as she shot Kurapika an irritated look. "With the way my luck tends to run, now would be the time I was dropped into a dungeon all alone because I've stopped trying to sneak away."

"Don't worry; we won't leave you all by your lonesome even if we do get separated," Kurapika countered with a laugh and a grin. "We've grown partial to your informative silences and I'm curious to see what nifty little trick you pull out of your magic bag next."

Azalea stumbled over her feet as she stared at Kurapika in shock as she stuttered out a nervous, "Ma…magic?"

"How else would you explain the amount of stuff you carry around in that little bag?"

"Um… exceptional organization skills?" Azalea replied uncertainly.

Kurapika laughed again and socked her on the shoulder, "I seriously doubt any amount of organization would fit as much food in there as you've been carrying around without some kind of technological tampering and that's not even counting the other stuff you have in there."

Azalea laughed weakly and relaxed as she finally realized that, no, Kurapika had not somehow figured out that she was a witch; he'd merely made a smart-mouthed comment. The blond gave her a funny look over her reaction to the teasing but didn't get a chance to say anything as they both heard Gon loudly calling their names. Glancing in the direction of the twelve year old, they saw him waving at them. Relief filled Azalea over the distraction as the two of them quickly, and carefully, made their way over to where the others were standing.

"Did you find something?" Kurapika inquired the moment they reached the trio.

Gon reached down to push on the stone slab at his feet and it easily moved down a few inches before shifting back up the moment Gon let go. The twelve year old then pointed out another four hidden doorways that were all in the same area and Azalea glanced over at Kurapika in trepidation to find the blond already looking her way. Azalea shrugged her shoulders and frowned while Kurapika immediately pointed out how suspicious it was that they'd found five doors close together when there was exactly five of them.

They debated the matter for several minutes before deciding that it was worth the risk of springing a trap since they'd already lost nearly two full hours searching the surface of the plateau for another way down. The moment they reached an agreement, the five of them split up and moved to a separate door. Azalea glanced at each of the others as Killua and Gon both counted to three. The moment they reached three, all five of them jumped lightly onto the door in front of them and immediately found themselves dumped down into the same room.

Azalea glanced over at Kurapika and the blond began snickering which in turn set Azalea off; both of them thinking back to Azalea's earlier comments about how she'd been unable to ditch the lot of them no matter how hard she tried. And the moment they'd decided to split up (thinking the five trapdoors each led someplace different), they were inevitably thrown right back together. The other three watching them in confusion which only made Azalea laugh harder.

Eventually, both of them fell silent (though they were still grinning) as they climbed up onto their feet and examined the room they'd ended up in. Azalea was studying the walls of the room as she recalled the way Diagon Alley was hidden behind a brick wall in the alley behind the Leaky Cauldron. She had just noted a section where the pattern of the bricks was broken when Gon sidled up to the podium on one side of the room with five watches sitting on top of it and a small plaque posted on the wall behind it.

Azalea scowled as Gon read the notice on the plaque out loud, "The five of you must follow the will of the majority to reach the goal."

"The five of us?" Leorio repeated.

"There are five…" Gon began as he reached his hand out to pick up one of the watches.

"Don't touch them," Azalea ordered softly as she walked up behind the twelve year old, snagged hold of his wrist, and pulled his hand away from the podium before his hand could come into contact with one of the devices. "We don't know what will happen if we mess with them."

"_You will be unable to leave this room unless all five of you place one of the watches on your wrist,_" a voice announced through an intercom speaker secured to the wall.

"What? Who's there? Where are you?" Leorio demanded loudly as he spun around in circles.

"_I am Lippo. I am the examiner that is over seeing the Third Phase as well as the Prison Warden in charge of this prison facility._"

"I guess that means we put on the watches then," Gon replied with a shrug as he reached for the watches again.

"No," Azalea firmly replied as she again pulled Gon's hand away from the podium.

"Never play by their rules," Kurapika murmured in understanding as he met Azalea's eyes across the podium and Azalea flashed him a small grin as she nodded in agreement.

"_If you do not wear the watches, you will never leave this room._"

"I don't buy it."

"_What reason do I have to lie to you? I am telling you that it is impossible to leave this room unless all five of you are wearing one of the watches._"

"Impossible? Ha! Shows what you know; there's no such thing as impossible," Azalea retorted as she turned her back on the speaker box.

"_Let me put it to you another way; either the five of you put on the watches or I disqualify you now._"

Azalea snarled as she dropped Gon's wrist, clenched her fists in anger, and dropped her gaze to glare at the floor. She hated being manipulated and if her future wasn't riding on that damned Hunter's License, she'd have flipped their unseen watcher the bird before blasting her way out of the room. It was her failed rescue attempt at the end of her fifth year all over again; only this time she didn't have a bargaining chip to use as leverage. A hand gently brushing her shoulder brought Azalea back to the present and she looked up to find Kurapika holding out one of the watches for her.

"It was a good idea, James."

"Thanks but I forgot the one rule that matters most," Azalea replied softly as she reluctantly accepted the proffered watch and stared at the glowing display. She then shook her head and moved her wand from her left sleeve to her right pocket (so that she'd not have to worry about it getting stuck on the watch band in the event of an emergency) before she put the watch on her left wrist.

"Oh, and what rule is that?"

"Never give them any information that they can use to get the upper hand and by now, all of the examiners know that I'm desperate to pass the exam; they've all had days to exchange information with one another after all and we've been tested by an untold number of individuals since we set foot on the ship."

The moment the watch band clicked together around her wrist, the section of the wall that Azalea had noted earlier slid upwards to reveal a hidden door and an electronic locking device with a notice board and two small LED displays. The notice told them to press O to open the door and X to not open the door; meaning that they were required to 'vote' in order to move forward or remain in the room. Five O's had the door opening just seconds later and the five of them moved forward into the three way intersection that was just outside the room where they were immediately faced with another choice.

"Left or right?" Gon asked as he stared up at the sign.

"One sec," Azalea muttered as she palmed her wand and crouched by the entrance to the left hall to cast a detection charm before crossing the small intersection to do the same on the right. She then returned to the center where the others waited as she softly explained, "There are five people waiting for us no matter which way we go."

"How do you know?"

"The same way I knew the man you were treating in the house under the cedar was not a man."

"Ah. So, no matter which way we go we will be forced to face an equal number of opponents?" Leorio mused as he glanced between the two halls. "Can you tell which five are stronger?"

"No. I can only count the number of humans within twenty meters of where I am standing."

"We should take the right hallway," Kurapika suggested after another minute. "Most people tend to go left as a first choice when traveling through a maze or when they come to a fork in the road and are lost. So, if I was the examiner, I'd place the more difficult challenges down the path that has the highest chance of being chosen."

"I hate mazes," Azalea groused even as she obediently selected O along with everyone else to open the barred gate blocking the right hallway. "If there is a fancy trophy at the end of the line I'm going to hurt someone."

"Huh? What's wrong with trophies?" Gon asked as he blinked up at Azalea in confusion.

"You mean aside from the fact that they are tacky, collect dust, and were designed for the sole purpose of feeding one's ego?"

"The glass is always half empty with you, isn't it?" Leorio tossed back over his shoulder as they traveled down a short hallway that abruptly angled off to the left before it ended at a large open room where a platform sat in the middle of the large bottomless pit. Directly across from where they were standing, there were five people wearing handcuffs and drab clothes comprised of dark gray pants, a dark gray tunic, and a dark gray hooded cloak thing that completely hid their faces.

"No, I see a partially filled glass as an annoyance because it means that someone went and drank out of my cup when I wasn't looking and chances are, whoever it was, probably backwashed in it as well."

The others laughed in response to her smart-mouthed retort until they heard the sound of a pair of heavy metal cuffs hitting the floor. They glanced up in time to see one of the individuals across the way pulling the cloak from his head to reveal a tall muscular man with several scars marring his bald head.

"_I see that the five of you are ready to face your first challenge, gentlemen. Standing across the room from you are five of Trick Tower's prisoners that the Hunter Examination Committee has hired as additional examiners for the duration of the Third Phase and their job is to stall the five of you for as long as they can in exchange for reducing the length of their sentences. You are each required to face one of them in a one-on-one battle. The only rules are that you must fight until there is a clear winner and that no person may fight more than once. In order for you to clear this challenge, you must win three of the five matches._"

"Joy," Leorio muttered.

"I am the first opponent," the unmasked prisoner across the way declared. "Which one of you little rodents are brave enough to face me?"

All five of them turned to look at one another before glancing back at the bear of the man waiting on the other side. Azalea shook her head and muttered, "You're better off leaving me as one of the last fighters because I won't stand a chance in a physical fight with such a limited amount of space for maneuvering."

"I should…" Kurapika started only for Leorio to cut him off as he loudly called out, "I'll go first."

"Are you sure, Leorio?"

"Yes."

"Don't let him force you into accepting a fight to the death," Kurapika ordered as he grabbed hold of Leorio's arm as a narrow metal bridge extended from both hallways to connect to the center platform. "They'll not hesitate to kill you if presented with the opportunity and they are looking to keep us here for a long as they can; which means they'd draw your death out for as long as humanly possible. Not only that, but one of us dying here could trap the rest of us in the tower since we will most likely need all five to pass through the rest of the various challenges."

"I got it."

The moment both combatants reached the platform, the prisoner immediately suggested a death match just like Kurapika had suspected he would. Leorio declined and challenged the man to a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors. The prisoner refused and suggested that the first one to push their opponent off the platform wins and again Leorio declined and suggested a bragging contest. Thankfully, the prisoner refused that suggestion as well before he proposed that they have a knife fight and the first one to bleed looses. To their shock, Leorio accepted with Leorio providing both of the knives.

The next twenty-three minutes was something to behold as Leorio surprisingly displayed an unexpected skill in knife fighting and dirty, street fighting. It was rather impressive to watch despite the fact that the taller teen lost after the third time he'd come close to slicing the prisoner's face up with the knife; the prisoner had been toying with Leorio right up until he realized that Leorio knew what he was doing and the prisoner risked losing the fight. The prisoner ended up stabbing Leorio low in the stomach for the win before jerking the knife out sideways in order to tear the wound open further as he pulled the knife free; a fatal wound due to both the location and the amount of damage done and one that guaranteed Leorio would be dying an agonizingly slow and painful death.

Gon offered to go next as a thin man with chin length black hair had his cuffs released next while Azalea rushed forward to help Kurapika carry Leorio back to hallway after Kurapika helped him across the bridge. Azalea didn't even hesitate to dive into her bag to snag the Home Healer's Kit she'd purchased and the book she'd bought on healing spells.

"Move his shirt out of the way and hold him down so I clean out the wound," Azalea instructed as she quickly flipped through the book for the proper incantation and wand movement for the wound cleansing spell; she didn't have time to care who saw her using her wand if she hoped to save the older teen from a slow and painful death.

Leorio screamed as the spell rushed through the wound and cleared out any germs, poisons, or other contaminants that might be in the wound. Azalea blurted out several contrite apologies as she realized she should have numbed the injury first and promptly rectified the matter before she rapidly flipped through the book for the spell she would need to heal the actual wound. Once she found the one she was looking for, she spent five precious minutes practicing the incantation and the wand movements after reading the entire paragraph detailing how the spell worked, what the risks were, and what she needed to do in order for it to work properly.

The spell was a type of knitting spell; only, instead of creating clothing from yarn, it forced human tissue to reattach itself back together by speeding up the cell regeneration process. The problem was that the spell required a steady hand and absolute control least the caster leave behind a mess of scar tissue that could potentially cause more damage than the original wound while potentially leaving behind tiny gaps in the wound that would continue to fester.

The moment she felt she could use it accurately; Azalea petrified Leorio with a spell in order to keep him from thrashing around and told Kurapika to hold the wound open so she could see what she was doing. She quickly recast the cleaning spell to clear out the blood and other fluids that were pooling in the wound so she could see what she was doing. Azalea then shut out everything else as she drew on her magic and cast the spell, directing the thin thread of magic flowing out of her wand to coax the damaged tissue back into its proper place as the torn cells were slowly replaced with whole cells.

After the first ten minutes, sweat began beading on Azalea's face as she struggled to keep control of the spell in order to keep the healing process going smooth and steady. Kurapika in the mean time split his attention between keeping track of what was happening with Gon's match (which hadn't yet started) and watching Azalea work. When Gon's opponent called for a majority ruling to decide which candle Gon would select for their game, Kurapika voted on behalf of Leorio and Azalea as well as himself after telling Gon to decide.

Gon won five minutes later despite the fact that the second prisoner had tricked him with a sabotaged candle and the third prisoner was released from his cuffs as the losing prisoner returned to the other side of the shaft. No one on the group's side made a move to fight the next battle though as the two twelve year olds anxiously watched Azalea's efforts to heal Leorio while Kurapika helped. The prisoners didn't care about the delay since wasting time was in their favor.

The longer she needed to hold the spell, the harder it was for Azalea to keep her hand steady as cramps shot through her hand and fingers due to how tightly she was grasping the handle of her wand while sweat stung her eyes. Forty minutes later, the last of the internal damage had finally been repaired and Azalea cast the cleaning spell one final time to clear away the last of the debris from Leorio's damaged intestines. Immediately after casting that final spell, Azalea dropped her wand; her entire body starting to shake as she let out a whimper when her hand seized up from tightly holding her wand for so long.

"Are you alright, James?" Kurapika asked in concern as he reached forward to keep Azalea from falling backwards and hitting her head against the wall behind her.

"Just fine," Azalea hissed from between clenched teeth. "Grab the bottle labeled as Essence of Dittany from the white and red box and pour it out one drop at a time into what is left of his wound until it closes completely. Just don't use too much because that's the only bottle I have and we might need it again before this task is over."

"Got it."

Gon hurried forward when Azalea slipped sideways the moment Kurapika let her go; the twelve year old cushioning the witch's body with his own as they both hit the floor. The kid then deftly began massaging Azalea's right arm and hand when he noticed the way the muscles were spasming and the uncomfortable way Azalea's fingers had been twisted from the pain. Azalea grunted in pain as the circulation in her hand and arm slowly began flowing again; causing almost as much pain as the cramping had.

"I'm done, James; what do I need to do next?"

"Nothing; but someone will need to take the next fight," Azalea rasped as the pain in her hand slowly began fading. "I can't give him anything for the pain until I release him from the Body-Bind but I can't do that until I can use my hand again. So, I'll apologize now for drawing out your suffering, Mr. Loud and Obnoxious."

Kurapika stood up after glancing at the blue-skinned man standing across the way waiting to fight and declared, "I'll take this fight; I need to work off my frustration."

"Fine by me," Killua replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

Azalea glanced up to watch the blond make his way to the platform, focusing on what was happening in order to avoid thinking about the lingering pain in her hand as Gon continued to massage it. The witch damn near yelled at the older teen when he unhesitatingly agreed to a death match with the blue skinned prisoner but reconsidered when she took a second look at the man after wiping her eyes with her free arm and shifting her glasses back into place. The guy looked like he was half mountain troll and his evil laugh was so pathetic it made Azalea sneer in disgust over the sheer idiocy of the guy's attempt at being intimidating.

"Merlin's shorn beard but I've seen flobberworms that were more intimidating than that shmuck," Azalea muttered scathingly. "Hell, I've seen five year olds that were scarier."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Killua agreed as he glanced over his shoulder and grinned at the witch.

Azalea let an answering grin form on her face as she gently extracted her hand from Gon's and methodically flexed each finger and the entire hand in order to test the muscles to see how much control she'd regained. She let out a soft sigh when her hand didn't immediately crap back up as she reached down to reclaim her dropped wand.

"Thank you, Gon," Azalea murmured as she flicked the wand at Leorio to release him from the Full Body-Bind Curse.

The taller man immediately moaned and clutched his abdomen as he muttered, "You really need to work on your bedside manners, Mr. Doom and Gloom; preferably on some other guinea pig."

"I'm sorry; I've never done any real healing before aside from basic first aide," Azalea contritely stated as she glanced away from Leorio's pain filled eyes to watch the next intimidation attempt from the blue-skinned; the guy punching the floor with his fist hard enough to smash a small crater in the stone. Azalea snorted, she'd seen Grawp pull hundred year old trees out of the ground with all of the roots still attached and squish them up like a ball of clay using just one hand; breaking a measly stone tile with a fist was nothing compared to that.

"Eh? Somehow I'm not sure if that makes it better or worse that I'm your first patient. All joking and complaints aside, thank you, James. I'm pretty certain I owe you my life."

"You're welcome; I just hope I didn't screw things up. How much pain are you in?"

"Quite a bit, why?"

"I have a homeopathic pain remedy that will put you out for eight hours while it finishes healing anything I missed or I have a bunch of Tylenol samples that the doctor gave me before I left the Infirmary that will cut the pain in half but let you stay awake. You can have one or the other but you can't take both or you'll end up poisoning yourself and making the pain even worse."

"Let me think about it," Leorio replied. "We'll be here a little while longer and depending on how the rest of the fights go, we may need to move out to head for our next challenge and I don't want to slow us down by making you drag my unconscious body with you because it would probably take all four of you to carry me."

"Fair enough."

Their attention was drawn back to the platform at that point as the blue-skinned man claimed to be a member of the Phantom Troupe. Azalea sucked in a sharp breath while Leorio cursed up a small storm; both of them fully aware of how Kurapika felt about that particular subject. Killua let out a soft whistle when the blond moved across the platform in the blink of an eye and lifted the large prisoner off the floor by the face with a single hand. Kurapika then flipped the man upside down as he punched him right in the face; plowing the guy headfirst onto the platform floor.

When the teen stood up and turned his back on the downed prisoner, Azalea got her first glimpse of the blond's rage filled scarlet eyes. The witch flinched in fear when the red tinted irises reminded her of Voldemort for the briefest of moments before she saw the differences in color. Voldemort's red eyes had been cloudy, dark, and sinister; ugly eyes that spelled only death and pain for those who met them. Kurapika's eyes were clear, bright, and full of vengeance that promised retribution and justice. Kurapika's eyes were also beautiful to behold despite or maybe because of the fury that raged in their depths and Azalea couldn't bring herself to look away from them once her fear had passed.

Azalea almost whined when Kurapika looked away from her to address the unconscious, dead, or dying prisoner whose face was still plastered to the floor, "I'm only going to say this once, so I suggest you listen closely. First; a real Phantom Troupe tattoo contains the member's number inside of the spider. Second, they have no need to count the number of people they have murdered because they don't care how many people they kill. And third, never speak of the Spider again; or _I will kill you_."

The retractable bridge that connected the platform to the outer corridors slid into place a moment later and Kurapika made his way across to rejoin the others and all four teens held their breath as they glanced into the blond's eyes to gauge his current emotional state. Azalea still couldn't bring herself to look away from Kurapika's eyes as they gradually faded from jewel-toned red to a subdued brown and even then she didn't turn away from the older teen. When the blond confessed that he tended to lose control in the presence of real spiders as well, Azalea's lips twitched a bit in amusement as she wondered what the older teen would make of Aragog's brood.

They waited for the next prisoner to step forward for the next fight as Kurapika leaned against the wall beside Azalea and slid down to sit on the floor; pressing his face to his knees. A good ten minutes passed before they realized that something was wrong since their next opponent hadn't stepped forward and the blue-skinned man hadn't moved an inch during that time. A glance at the score boards indicated that Kurapika's match hadn't ended because the fate of the prisoner had not been confirmed.

After another fifteen minutes passed without any sign of movement from the man, Azalea cast the detection charm and frowned when she couldn't decide whether or not it was a good thing that the prisoner was still alive. Narrowing her eyes, Azalea flicked her right index and middle finger at the man and hit him in the back of the head with a wandless Stinging Hex. The man let out a loud screech and began rolling around and Azalea had to avert her face to hide her smirk over his reaction to the weak hex.

"Kurapika, would you be willing to go intimidate him into surrendering so we can collect your win?" Azalea asked carefully in a low voice that didn't travel far as she glanced at the teen beside her. "Or do you want me to drive him into throwing himself off of the platform?"

"I'll do it; he was on the verge of giving up when I punched him in the face earlier," Kurapika answered after he glanced over to meet Azalea's eyes. "You've already exhausted yourself and you still have to potentially face your own fight."

While Kurapika was tying up loose ends, Azalea glanced at Killua; the only other member of their group aside from Azalea that had not yet faced an opponent. She then glanced across the expanse to take in the two remaining prisoners.

"Killua, how confident are you that you can win in a physical fight?"

"I've been trained as an assassin from the moment I was old enough to walk," Killua replied. "If it comes down to a physical battle, I will win regardless of who I face."

"Good; because there is a chance that I will fail," Azalea confessed as she climbed to her feet. "I'm beyond exhausted because healing is not my forte; I much prefer the thrill of flying."

"If Killua goes next and wins, then you won't have to worry about fighting," Gon pointed out.

"It depends on which prisoner goes next," Leorio countered as he gingerly sat up to get a better look at the two remaining prisoners. "Have you noticed the way the four prisoners near the edge have been avoiding the guy sitting in the shadows? I'd lay money down on him being the worst of the lot."

"I agree," Killua replied after studying the man in question for a moment. "He's not moved once during any of the earlier battles and the others won't even look at him; yet they all remain acutely aware of his position and never draw any closer to him. If he steps forward next, then I will face him."

"He won't; they'll leave him as the potential tie-breaker because they are confident that he'll never lose," Kurapika stated as he rejoined them. "And the short one has already had the cuffs removed."

"I guess that means it is my turn," Azalea stated as she dug her silver potions knife out of her book bag and tucked it into her cloak pocket alongside her wand before she began buttoning up her cloak as she slowly made her way forward without bothering to look at her opponent.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>_And there we have yet another canon upset as Tonpa is shouldered out by Azalea. I also think I showed Leorio in a bit of a different light since his idiot side vanished for a short period. I tend to see Leorio has have far more depth to him than most people see and I tried to portray that here as he dropped his goofball act the moment he started fighting with his opponent. Azalea's match will be in the next chapter and I'm certain most Hunter x Hunter fans know who she will face.  
><em>

_Anywho, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed so far; your reviews are appreciated and I will make time to respond to them soon. I just haven't yet dredged up the courage to face the reply system here since the whole non-tracking replies and everything goes to the PM system is annoying since it makes it harder for me to track who I have and have not responded to. So, I'm honestly not ignoring anyone, I'm just avoiding the inevitable. =) ~ Jenn  
><em>


	9. Crossing x Invisible x Lines

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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><p><span>Chapter Nine: Crossing x Invisible x Lines<span>

Azalea had just passed the halfway point between the hall where the others were watching and the platform where her battle would be taking place when her opponent addressed her.

"Do you like to gambol?" the prisoner asked from the other side of the platform. Azalea didn't reply as she continued walking and stepped up onto the platform before settling into the same dueling stance she'd used during the game she'd played alongside Gon and Killua during their flight to Trick Tower. "Are you the strong, silent type then? Would you be willing to make a wager?"

Azalea tilted her head to one side and arched an eyebrow to indicate she was listening while behind her all four of her companions smothered a laugh as Killua sarcastically complained that Azalea usually never shut up; an intentional verbal misdirection on the brat's part.

"I propose that we each wager fifty hours worth of time in a series of betting games to determine who wins our match. We can take turns making a wager until one of us has no time left. The only rule is that you must bet your hours in increments of ten."

"What happens if one side reaches zero?" Leorio demanded from where he was propped up against the wall as the LED screen hanging on the wall to Azalea's right lit up with a pair of fifties representing the fifty hours each side would potentially be wagering.

"If your side ends up with zero points you lose fifty hours of the time you have left to finish the task."

"And if you end up with zero?" Gon asked.

"We each have fifty years added to our prison sentence."

Azalea frowned before she glanced back over her shoulder to gauge the reactions of the others; knowing it wasn't just her chance of passing the exam riding on the outcome of her match. And while Killua's match remained as a potential tie-breaker, Azalea disliked failing in general.

"It's your choice, James," Kurapika called out after exchanging glances with the others.

Azalea frowned slightly as she glanced back at her opponent while she considered the suggested game and what it would cost their side if she lost her match. She then relaxed her stance, crossed her arms, and countered with, "I'm willing to play your game but not by your rules. I propose we only bet in increments of twenty-five and that all bets are final the moment you speak them; meaning that you can't change your mind the moment you start doubting your chances of winning or realize you made the wrong choice."

"What!?" Leorio exclaimed in shock.

The prisoner glanced back at the other prisoners before stating, "I accept."

"Is he nuts!?" Leorio demanded angrily.

"No, he's making his own rules," Kurapika countered with a head shake.

The prisoner then reached up to remove the hood he was wearing and revealed that he was actually a she. Her long, thick, fuchsia hair was tied up in two bushing ponytails with a few strands hanging free about her neck. Azalea narrowed her eyes slightly when the female prisoner posed with one hand on her hip and thrust her chest out as if to encourage her to look her up and down. She snorted and merely sneered at her in distaste.

"Shall I go first?"

"Might as well."

"Such a gentleman," the woman giggled as she batted her eyes at Azalea. "How about we wager on whether or not I'm really a woman."

"And how will we know you're telling the truth if you say he guessed wrong?" Leorio belted out and Azalea scowled.

"Shut up, Leorio," Azalea growled as she glanced back over her shoulder to scowl at the man. "Or I will silence you permanently."

Gon and Leorio paled drastically over what they immediately took as a death threat while Killua only looked amused and Kurapika simply took the threat in stride. Azalea's opponent giggled as she offered, "Whether he is right or wrong, I will let him physically examine me so that he will know whether or not I lied."

"There will be no need," Azalea casually replied without even bothering to look at the woman. "I'm willing to wager twenty five hours that you are a girl since I already know you are a girl but if you aren't certain of your own gender you're more than welcome to grope yourself to your heart's content in order to figure it out. Just do me a favor and let me know when you're finished because I'd rather not lose my breakfast having to watch you debase yourself in front of five grown men, a couple of pre-teens, and one immature teenager drooling like an idiot."

The woman pouted and stamped her foot even as twenty five hours were subtracted from the prisoners' score and added onto the group's score before she angrily demanded, "What will we be wagering on now?"

"You can pick again," Azalea graciously offered as she finally turned to look at her once more while Leorio cut off an expletive and Killua loudly wondered whether or not 'James' had lost 'his' mind this time.

"Then we shall wager on whether or not you can make me shed a single tear before I can talk you out of your pants and it will be an all or nothing bet; winner takes all."

"Fine."

The woman circled around Azalea several times before she stopped behind her back and slipped Azalea's hat from her head and tossed it onto the ground. She then ran the fingers of one hand through the hair at the back of Azalea's neck while she slipped the other hand around her waist and pressed her lips against Azalea's ear as the witch tensed and flinched over the unwelcome touches.

"Did you know that I know how to read minds, little boy? I know exactly what you are thinking right now and you should be ashamed of yourself."

"Liar," Azalea stated in a dead voice.

"What?" the woman demanded in confusion over the unexpected response and the tone it was delivered in.

"You can't read minds. You're simply trying to play mind games with me but you picked the wrong person to play this particular game with."

"You're just frightened that I will reveal what you are thinking to your companions."

"Do you know what it feels like to have someone tearing through your thoughts? To have someone ruthlessly crashing around through your memories without caring how much damage they do? To have them violate your very soul as they pull upon the memories of your worst fears and deepest regrets? To have a man you hate mock your hopes and dreams as he painfully and effortlessly rips each one from your mind while you grovel at his feet and beg him to stop? Or to have an insane murderer slide effortlessly into your head and feed you visions of your friends and family being tortured to death while you are helpless to do more than watch them suffer before their lives are snuffed out?"

"No, you've never experienced the true torture of having someone force themselves into your mind or you would not speak so casually of such a vile and unspeakable act of horrifying evil. And you would have recoiled in horror from what you saw the moment you entered my mind," Azalea finished in an angry hiss as she spun around had slammed her right palm onto the woman's chest at the same time as she cast a wandless Stinging Hex; making the woman cry out sharply in pain as she stumbled backwards while clutching her chest. "No, you're nothing but a pathetic little con artist that enjoys cheating people out of their hard earned cash while using your petty little mind games to shake them up and throw them off balance."

"Brave words, how about we put them to the test?" the woman sneered the moment she regained her footing and her confidence. "I know that you think you're going to make me doubt my ability to read your mind before trying to physically cause me pain to make me cry."

"Wrong. I'm going to make it so you can't move a single muscle and then I'm going to show you just what it feels like to have someone invade your mind so that I can steal your name and your deepest insecurities before I use your doubts and fears to completely and utterly humiliate you in front of every one here until you bawl like a baby."

Azalea's fellow applicants gasped in shock over the threat she'd just given the woman and Azalea was hard pressed not to choke on the bile that rose up in the back of her throat as she heard the crap that was spewing out of her mouth. Even worse was the knowledge that she wouldn't hesitate to do exactly as she said she would; too much was riding on her passing the Hunter's Exam and the female prisoner's claims of reading her mind had pushed one button too many in the wake of the vision she'd had the previous evening.

"You don't have the guts to carry out your threat!"

"Wrong again. You look at me and see a little boy and that is where you made your first mistake. I was still in diapers when I destroyed the man that murdered my mother just seconds after he had cut her down in front of my eyes. I was eleven years old when I learned that I could burn a person alive merely by touching them with my bare hands. And I was fifteen when I tortured a woman for daring to steal something precious from me while playing her wretched mind games."

"You lie!" the woman insisted as she took several steps backwards; her voice shaking with obvious fear.

Azalea let a feral smile slowly slide onto her face as she pulled on her magic, raised her right hand, and took a single step towards the woman; her eyes once more glittering with motes of gold dust. The woman's eyes widened imperceptively as she involuntarily took yet another step backwards. Azalea was quick to calculate the distance between her and the edge of the platform and she narrowed her eyes as she realized that there was a way for her to screw them over.

"Oh, and if you attempt to escape by throwing yourself off the platform; you will automatically forfeit the match because you will have failed to follow through on your wager."

The witch waited until her words had fully sunk in before she used a wandless Summoning Charm to drag the woman across the platform; causing her to let out a small, clipped scream of shock. The moment the prisoner was within arm's reach, she hit her with Full Body-Bind Curse and caught her before she could hit the ground. Azalea stared deeply into her eyes as she slipped her right hand into her pocket, wrapped her fingers around the hilt of her wand, and whispered the incantation that would allow her to slip into the woman's mind.

Azalea only stayed in her mind long enough to learn the prisoner's name and get an idea of her deepest insecurities and fears while smothered screams of pain rose from the woman's frozen lips. She then gently laid her on the ground and straddled her stomach as she let go of her wand, pulled her silver potions knife out of her pocket, and grabbed a handful of the woman's fuchsia colored locks.

"You take pride in your hair, don't you, Leroute?" Azalea inquired silkily as she drew upon all of her memories of the way Snape had sounded while taunting her through five years of school. "It's so thick and soft; its very color draws the eye and allows men to look passed your childlike visage, your stick-like frame, and smaller than average breasts. Even in the harsh confines of your prison cell, you've lovingly cared for the one thing you've always loved about yourself; your hair."

Azalea smiled charmingly as she saw the confusion and fear in Leroute's eyes while at the same time trying not to vomit on the woman as she pulled the section of hair she held tight and deftly sliced off a couple inches of her hair before she sprinkled the shorn strands across the platform. Anger replaced the earlier fear in Leroute's eyes as Azalea reached for another small handful of hair. This time, she cut it at an angle close to the ponytail holder that held her hair in place before she tossed it up into the air and hit it with a weak wandless banishing charm to scatter the strands as they fell back to the ground around the two of them.

"Doesn't your hair look so beautiful when it floats through the air? It almost looks like blood as it spills across the floor; just like my mother's hair the night _he_ murdered her when she refused to step aside and let _him_ kill me."

And just like that the fear was back in Leroute's eyes as Azalea reached out and took hold of yet another section of her hair; this time from the other side of her head. When she held it up so she could see the short section she'd cut free, she let a secretive little half smile form on her lips and she stared into Leroute's eyes again and cast a wandless _Incendio_ to set the strands of hair to smoldering. As the smoke rose up from the shriveling hair, she gently blew on it so that it wafted across Leroute's face.

The moment a small whimper sounded in the back of Leroute's throat, Azalea tossed away the half melted bunch of hair and reached down to tenderly stroke the woman's hair as she loudly hummed God Save the Queen. Two more whimpers issued forth from between her frozen lips and Azalea cut off and blinked down at her as if she'd forgotten that she was even there. She sat up just a little straighter as she gently lifted the long strands that hung free on the right side of the woman's face and brought them up to her face as if she was scenting the strands.

"It's a shame that you didn't think your oh so clever plan through before you initiated our little game, Leroute," Azalea murmured gently as she coiled her hair around her fingers again and again as she glanced off to one side to stare at something only she could see. "If you had faced another, you might have been able to weave your web of lies around them and convince them that you truly could read their minds. I am nothing like the men you've played in the past and you really should not have pushed me the way you did."

"I used to be so naive; thinking that there were some lines that people just didn't cross. That I would never cross. But I learned my lesson. She struck him down, you know? He was her cousin. They grew up together. They went to the same school. They sat side by side at the same table on family get-togethers and shared the same food for years, I'd imagine. They were as different as night and day but they were still family. And she didn't hesitate to cut him down while she laughed."

Azalea snarled as she suddenly tightened her hold on Leroute's hair and pulled it tight as she hissed, "I was such a fool. I wanted to make her writhe in pain for what she'd stolen from me. I should have finished her when I had the chance. I never should have stopped to listen to her taunts; she would not have escaped that night if I had just killed her."

Azalea shifted her hand and continued to hold the section of hair tight as she slowly stropped the knife on the lock of hair, shredding and knotting the silky strands bit by bit with each swipe. She purposefully let the knife slip closer and closer to the other woman's face until it was ghosting along her skin without actually cutting her as she returned her eyes to Leroute's. She then intentionally nicked the prisoner's ear with the tip of the knife as she watched the emotions flickering in the depths of Leroute's eyes. She let out a small strangled scream at that point and Azalea stopped what she was doing and tilted her head to one side for a moment as she studied her closely.

She then calmly pulled the knife away as she leaned down to wipe the blood from her ear before she whispered, "She tried to play mind games with me that night as well; just like you. I'm not going to let you escape though; no, not this time. I learned my lesson and I've practiced endlessly for the last six months just waiting for a chance to show her just how much she taught me."

Azalea pulled back and reached for Leroute's left ponytail as she raised the knife above her head and let all of the grief, guilt, and rage she'd been holding inside since the night she'd led her godfather to his death rise up to the surface of her mind until her eyes shimmered with magic and madness. A twisting flick of her wrist and a silent incantation had a wide ring of bluebell flames springing up around the two of them; Azalea choosing the rather harmless flames to inspire fear in the woman as she knew that Leroute was terrified of fire after she'd nearly died in a house fire when she was a child.

Azalea then met Leroute's gaze as she purred, "Be a good little girl for me, Leroute; be a _good_ little girl and scream for me. I **so** want to hear you _scream_." The magic flowing through Azalea's entire body carried her soft words to the ears of those listening and more than one person blanched at the madness her words and tone held.

A heartbeat later, the flames danced just close enough for both women to feel the gentle warmth of the flames and see them flickering from the corner of their eyes. Azalea's breathing grew labored beneath the onslaught of emotions at that point as her arm trembled with the strain staying in control of her emotions and the fire burning around them. Seconds later, she dropped her arm, wandlessly ended the Body-Bind Curse, and allowed the flames to sweep closer at the same time. Leroute let out a scream of sheer terror and a river of tears poured down her face as Azalea's knife sliced her left pony tail off right at the scalp.

The witch calmly climbed up off of the woman, snuffed out the bluebell flames, and shut off all of her emotions five seconds later as she sneered down at her and proclaimed, "I win, bitch," before she dropped the shorn hair onto Leroute's heaving chest and walked away without another word; leaving the woman sobbing hysterically on the platform.

"_You have now won three out of five matches, the majority rules; the five of you are free to progress to the next challenge,_" Lippo declared as Azalea paused just long enough to stoop down and collect her hat from the floor.

She settled her leather fedora on her head and pulled it down low as she continued crossing the platform, keeping her eyes glued to the floor out of fear of what she'd see on the faces of her companions. It wasn't until Azalea had almost traveled the full length of the bridge that she finally glanced up to see the others watching her with wide eyes and pale faces; except Killua. Killua was looking at her with respect and Azalea briefly wondered whether or not that was a good thing just before she dropped to her knees and puked as the realization of what she'd just done hit her hard.

She would have rolled right off the bridge at that point if not for Gon and Kurapika both jumping forward to grab hold of her at the last second. They'd just managed to haul her up onto the hallway floor when Voldemort sent a wave of pure ecstasy through the cursed link they shared and Azalea just knew that the Dark Lord had been excited by the rush of emotions he'd felt from Azalea during the past twenty minutes. She had a full five seconds for her guilt to eat away at her conscience before her scar split open for the third time in the last twenty-four hours and she let out a choked sob before she cried out sharply as the pain exploded in her head.

Voldemort vanished from her mind seconds later as a pair of jewel-toned red eyes floated up from the depths of her memories as she unconsciously compared Kurapika's eyes to Voldemort's once more and Azalea saw a brief flash of scarlet flames as Voldemort screamed in agony before she blacked out.

The next thing she knew, she was blinking a fresh stream of blood from her eyes as she stared up into Kurapika's chocolate eyes. Confusion filled her for a moment before her match against the woman prisoner slammed back into her mind and she rolled over and retched again until there was nothing left for her to bring up. A hand sliding across her back in comforting circles had her flinching and skittering sideways before her mind caught up to her body and she froze for a heartbeat before tipping her head to the side just enough to see Kurapika crouching with his hand held out in mid-air while eying her with concern.

"Are you alright, James?"

Azalea just shrugged as she gingerly sat down and averted her face; too ashamed of what she'd done to face the older teen or look him in the eye again. When she felt a cool, damn cloth being pressed to her forehead she flinched again as she jerked her head up to find herself face to face with the blond once more. She blushed bright red with embarrassment when Kurapika grabbed hold of her chin and held her face still so he could wash away the blood that was still flowing freely from her scar.

"Hold still," Kurapika ordered when Azalea tried to pull free.

Ten minutes later, the blond was tightly wrapping a long section of gauze around Azalea's forehead while the witch shifted uncomfortably over the close proximity of the other teen. Kurapika tied the bandage off a moment later before he slung Azalea's arm over his shoulder and hauled the witch up onto her feet. Azalea bit off a groan as her entire body protested the change in position while her head felt like it had just burst open.

"Sorry, but we've got to get moving; we've already lost close to ten hours between the four fights on top of yours and Leorio's injuries. Leorio said you had something on you that you could take to the dull the pain?"

"Yes, Dr. Mackle gave me just over a week's supply of sample Tylenol packets right before he kicked me out of the Infirmary two hours before we landed. They're in the left hand pocket of my cloak along with a bottle of water. Grab two packs and give one to Mr. Tall and Loud over there."

Kurapika grunted in acknowledgement as he reached across the front of her body and fished out the water bottle and two packets of pain medication and Azalea felt decidedly strange over the flood of body heat that suffused her as the taller teen pressed close for several seconds. The sense of loss she felt when Kurapika moved away only served to confuse her more; she couldn't understand why her body was acting so weird.

"Here, hold out your hand, James."

Azalea shook her head to clear it and lifted her free hand to comply. Kurapika dumped a pair of pills into her hand and the sixteen year old simply swallowed them dry. The blond then guided her over to the wall and propped her up against it before he went to deliver the other pack of pain meds and the bottle of water to Leorio. Emerald orbs unfailingly tracked the blond each step of the way until Azalea realized what she was doing and she quickly dropped her eyes to the floor as her face flushed red yet again. Her discomfort was soon forgotten as Gon suddenly popped up in front of her and Azalea flinched back in surprise; nearly cracking her head on wall at the same time.

"Did you really do all those things you threatened to do to that woman?"

Azalea blanched at the reminder over her complete loss of control and she snapped her head to the left as shame filled her once more. She couldn't help but wonder if some small piece of the Dark Lord had been left behind when Voldemort had tried to possess her there at the end of the Ministry Fiasco. Could a small piece of Voldemort influence her and fill her heart with darkness until she was no different that the murdering psychopath? Would she find it harder and harder to fight that darkness as it slowly took over her soul until she no longer cared?

"Did you?" Gon demanded, his voice pulling Azalea back to the immediate present.

"Yes," Azalea replied in a low voice filled with self-loathing.

"Why? Why would you do that?"

"A year ago, I never would have even considered doing something so despicable. A year ago, I was nothing more than a naïve little fool with simplistic ideals of what was right and what was wrong and stupidly believed that everything was painted in black and white; good versus evil. I am not the same person I was a year ago; that gi… that part of me died. I learned the hard way that the enemy won't play fair and that dancing to their tune only brings tears."

"Does that mean that you really would have killed Leorio just because he kept talking?"

"I never threatened to kill Leorio; I simply threatened to take away his ability to talk."

"It sounded like you were going to kill him; you said you'd silence him permanently. What about those things you said about what it felt like to read someone's mind? Or the things you said you've done?"

Azalea brought her right arm up and twisted it so that the back of her hand was facing Gon as she made a fist and pulled the cloak sleeve out of the way so that the scars on her hand stood out starkly against her skin and rasped, "My _professor_ made damn sure that I learned two lessons last year."

"The first one; authority figures are always right even when they're wrong. And the second one; I must not tell lies. As you can see, she made certain the second lesson sank in good and deep so that I will never forget that I am only allowed to speak the truth. Of course, what she really meant for me to learn was that I must not contradict the lies that the Ministry fed to the public in order to ignore the truth just because the truth was ugly and did not fit with their version of the world."

"I'm sorry," Gon stated after an awkward silence stretched between the two of them.

"Huh? For what?"

"For doubting you and thinking you were wrong."

"Don't be; I doubt myself far too much to begrudge you the same opportunity. I've also been known to make terrible mistakes that other people tend to pay the price for."

"Are you going to go back to trying to ditch us now?"

Azalea snorted and dropped her hand to hide her scars once more as she mockingly drawled, "Oh, yes, because that worked out oh so well the first dozen times I tried."

"We're leaving now," Kurapika announced as he returned to Azalea side and handed her the half full water bottle so she could take a drink while a suddenly grinning and over-proud Gon bounced on his feet beside the pair. "Do you think you can walk or will you need a hand?"

"I should be fine now but first I need to pack up my things," Azalea replied as she drew her wand and used the Pack Spell that she'd first seen Tonks use a year hand a half earlier; the witch too rattled to care if anyone saw her using magic right now.

All of her things that were spread about the small hallway jumped up off the floor a moment later and flew into her book bag in a matter of seconds. She then summoned her bag to her and pushed away from the wall with the intent of catching said bag and slinging the strap over her shoulder only for her to lose her balance and nearly topple over. Gon was quick to push her back up against the wall to prevent her from crashing to the ground while Kurapika snagged her bag out of the air before it could smack the witch in the face.

"That went well," Kurapika deadpanned as Azalea once again flushed bright red. The blond then shook his head, slung Azalea's bag over his shoulder along side his messenger bag, stepped up beside Azalea, and pulled Azalea's left arm over the back of his shoulders again before sliding an arm around Azalea's back. "Let's go! Killua, lead the way. Gon, keep an eye on Leorio; make certain he doesn't fall. I'll keep our magical mascot in line."

"Please don't use that word."

"Huh? Don't use what word? Mascot?"

"No. The other one."

"Magical? What's wrong with the word magical?"

"Because if you keep using it, someone is going to figure out what I am and then I'm going to have yet another group of insanely powerful people out to kill me and I'd really like to avoid that if at all possible."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it, Kura," Azalea replied in a low voice as Kurapika pulled her closer when they reached the bridge leading to the center platform just as Killua, Leorio, and Gon were crossing the platform towards the third bridge that lead to yet another hallway; the witch not even realizing she'd shortened Kurapika's name. "You saw what I did. You saw how I did it. And you can't tell me you haven't noticed all of the other little things I've done."

Their conversation was cut off when the only prisoner to not fight in a match suddenly lunged across the remaining bridge to attack the three on the platform. Azalea gasped as she fumbled in her pocket for her wand only to slowly drop her hand a heartbeat later as she realized that Killua had already killed the prisoner. The twelve year old had some how managed to cross the distance between himself and the attacking prisoner to pluck the taller man's heart out of his chest in the blink of an eye.

"Kurapika…?"

"Yeah, James…?"

"Remind me not to annoy that particular brat in the future, okay?"

"Only if you'll promise to do the same for me, James."

"Yeah, sure, no problem."

"Good. How are your legs? Are they still holding up your weight alright?"

"They're working as well as they can, considering that they turned to jelly a few minutes ago. What about yours?"

"I think I'm in the same boat."

"Oh, good; I hate sailing alone. The giant squid likes to play tug-o-war with my feet and someone will need to row the blasted boat across the lake before it sinks while I fend him off because I can't swim."

Both sixteen and seventeen year old leaned against one another as they laughed over their silliness and if there was a slight hysterical edge to the sound, well neither one of them was going to comment on it. They started walking again a few minutes later when Gon called out for them to hurry up. The two of them wouldn't make it across the platform without being attacked like the first group; this time it was a broken Leroute who tried to attack Azalea from behind in revenge for what the witch had done to her. Kurapika knocked the woman out using the chained bokken swords he kept hidden beneath his tabard at the small of his back.

"I have _got_ to get me a pair of those," Azalea declared as they kept walking without looking back. "I can't count the number of times something like that would have come in handy when the albino ferret attempted to attack me from behind. It would have been so worth each and every detention I know I would have been given. But as the saying goes… in for a penny, in for a pound and if I was going to be stuck in detention for breathing too loudly; I might as well have been in there for creating a series of artfully painful knots across the ferret's face."

"You are a strange one, James," Kurapika laughed as he pulled Azalea even closer as they came to the edge of the platform so that both of them would be able to fit across the narrow bridge.

A shiver traced up Azalea's spine as she suddenly became acutely aware of every single inch of Kurapika's body that was pressed up against her yet again. It felt like a combination of flames and electricity and it both excited and confused her as she'd never felt that way before. The closest she'd ever gotten was when she'd had that little crush on Cedric Diggory during her fourth year and that had ended the moment she'd watched the older teen dancing closely with his girlfriend during the Yule Ball the year of the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

'_Crush?_' Azalea thought nervously as she tripped over the edge of the floor when they reached the new hallway and she would have fallen off the ledge if not for the fact that Kurapika was still holding her up.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine; just misjudged my step," Azalea replied a little breathlessly as her brain began running a mile a minute.

'_It can't be a crush, can it? I mean, I've only just met the guy. Besides, there's no way he'd ever look at me like that because he thinks I'm a guy too, right?_'Azalea reasoned as she desperately tried to ignore the way Kurapika was still pressed right up against her despite the fact that there was no longer a need for them to walk quite so closely together.

She'd just about convinced herself that she was merely imagining things when another part of her mind spoke up, '_Ah, but does it really matter how long you've known him? Admit it. You'd jump at the chance to see Kurapika's scarlet eyes again and while he might not know you're a girl, you know you're a girl and you want him to notice you that way. You know you were wondering whether or not his eyes would turn scarlet in the throws of passion. Even you can't deny that you were turned on by the jeweled flames in his eyes the moment you let go of your unfounded fears._'

"Well, yeah, they were breathtakingly beautiful," Azalea grumbled out loud in response to her inner self's taunts.

"What were beautiful?" Kurapika inquired as he glanced over at the smaller brunette.

"Er… um…" Azalea stalled as her face turned beat red yet again; completely embarrassed over the fact that she'd not only been caught talking out loud to herself but that the one she'd been talking about had been the one to hear her. After a moment, Azalea drew on her Gryffindor courage as she softly answered, "I hadn't planned to say that out loud. I was just… I'd been thinking about you; or rather your eyes. They were beautiful; like living fire."

"They frightened you; I saw you flinch the moment you saw them."

"No. The memory they invoked frightened me as I saw another pair of red eyes that have haunted my nightmares since as far back as I can remember. I couldn't tear my eyes away from yours once I saw them though and within seconds I realized that comparing your eyes to Riddle's eyes was like trying to compare a flawless ruby to a blood stained rock."

"Will the two of you quit flirting with each other and get your sorry behinds in here so we can vote on our next move?" Leorio groused as he poked his head around the corner and mock-glared back at them.

"Do you think the examiner would disqualify us if I turned him into a toad for the duration of this phase?" Azalea half asked and half whined as she averted her eyes and tried to ignore the fact that her face was on fire once again.

"Ignore him, James; Leorio is just jealous that you caught my eye first along with the fact that you never even looked at him once, let alone twice."

"What!?" the taller teen bellowed in disbelief. "I am not! I never! Leave me out of it!"

"Some one kill me now and put me out of my misery," Azalea muttered as she palmed her face; the witch more than half convinced that her face was never going to return to anything resembling a normal color as her blush deepened yet again. Meanwhile, Killua and Gon are glancing back and forth between all three older teens just enjoying the show (though Gon looked like he was more than a little clueless as to what is going on).

"Wouldn't you rather have Kurapika kiss away your misery?" Leorio teased with a smirk in retaliation for what the blond had implied earlier.

"Are you feeling jilted again, Leorio?" Kurapika fired right back as he arched an eyebrow at the oldest member of their group. "I'm sorry, but nothing has changed; you're still not my type and I've always been far fonder of vivid emeralds than I have been of muddy quartz."

"You know what, I think I'm just going head over to that corner over there so I can curl up and die of embarrassment now," Azalea deadpanned as her inner self began cackling madly while her heart thumped erratically despite the fact that she knew Kurapika was only teasing Leorio; after all, she was firmly convinced that Kurapika couldn't possibly think of her that way.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>_This chapter was exceedingly difficult to write because I wanted to portray Azalea as being a bit darker than canon Harry but didn't want her to sink too far. I also had to work in the hints of Azalea/Kurapika without making it seem too rushed. At this point, the mutual interest is being magnified by the inherent danger of the Exam. _

_For those who were uncertain as to what happened at the end of Azalea's match, that was similar to what happened at the end of the Ministry battle when canon Harry ended Voldemort's possession by thinking of Sirius and his parents. The feelings and emotions invoked by Kurapika's eyes were painful to the Dark Lord and it therefore drove him out of her mind. That doesn't mean that she's already in love with Kurapika, she's not. It merely means that his scarlet eyes had a similar effect of a patronus charm; it brought forth positive emotions. _


	10. Seriousness x and x Silliness

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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><p><span>Chapter Ten: Seriousness x and x Silliness<span>

Twenty-six hours and fifty-two minutes after they started the Third Phase, twenty-one hours after she'd won her match and felt Voldemort's pleasure, and sixteen hours and thirteen minutes after Azalea found Kurapika hovering over her; Azalea found her vision fading in and out as she staggered after the others (exhausted beyond belief). She then had a brief impression of shivering on the floor while hearing axes chip away at stone, a breath taking rush of speeding down a steep slide that reminded her of the entrance of the Chamber of Secrets or the cart ride at Gringotts, and feeling as if she was being cradled in another's arms.

She briefly heard the grating sound of stone grinding on stone and a mechanical voice calling out all five of their assigned applicant numbers in order of arrival before blackness overtook her completely.

Azalea was pulled from deep sleep by the steady but gentle tugging of something running through her hair and over her scalp. It almost felt like Hedwig was preening her hair, or more specifically, like there were five Hedwigs preening her hair; each beak following a slightly different path through the short crow's nest that doubled as hair for the last Potter. The feeling was strangely comforting and Azalea led out a contented humming purr before she wrapped her arms around her pillow and snuggled deeper into its comforting warmth as she started drifting back to sleep.

The sound of a half familiar laugh coupled with the feel of a hand running up and down her back snapped Azalea into full awareness as her entire body tensed and she stopped breathing. The hand on her back stilled but didn't pull away while the fingers that were running through her hair (which she only now recognized as fingers) continued their gentle massage. It was at that point that Azalea realized her pillow was not a pillow but actually someone's body when she felt the person shifting; she was laying across someone's lap with her face buried up against their stomach. A slight tremor shook her body as she tried to recall where the hell she was and who she was with.

"He looks so young and innocent curled up against you like that, Kurapika," a familiar voice… Leorio's voice mused from somewhere nearby. "Looking at him now you'd never guess that he was sixteen years old or that there was a mile wide streak of madness lurking inside of him."

Azalea felt iron bands wrap around her heart as Leorio's words pierced her to the quick and brought back the memory of what she'd said and done to the female prisoner she'd faced. She never heard the whisper soft, pained whine she let out as the fear that Voldemort was somehow influencing her from a distance filled her once more.

"Shut up, Leorio," an angry voice hissed in reply as the hand running through Azalea's hair stopped and pressed Azalea's face closer to the stomach she'd been snuggling into just seconds earlier while the arm laying across her back tightened. "You have no business judging him when you have no idea what horrors his past holds."

"Oh, and I suppose you do?" Leorio snidely snapped back.

"As a matter of fact, yes, I do," the angry voice, which Azalea finally recognized as Kurapika's, countered sharply. "We had shared bits and pieces of our past with each other while we were hunting for a way off of the Tower's plateau; much like you and I did back during the first task. You might have taken his words and actions during his match as madness but all I could see and hear was an endless well of grief and guilt fueled by a powerful rage and a thirst for revenge. James is no different than me in that respect."

"I trust James," another voice added and a picture of spiky black hair and burning brown eyes filled with determination drifted in front of Azalea's mind's eye as a whisper of a memory supplied the name Gon.

"James has proved himself worthy of my respect whether he is insanely powerful or just powerfully insane," another voice declared and this time a flash of pale messy hair shot through Azalea's mind followed by the name Killua.

Azalea finally took a shuddering breath while a shiver traced up her spine over Killua's declaration as she recalled just how easily the younger boy had plucked the heart out of the convict that had attempted to attack half of their group. The loosening of the hands that had been holding her abruptly reminded Azalea that she was practically sitting on someone's lap and she blushed bright red as she removed her arms from where they'd been wrapped around the person's waist so she could sit up.

"I had hoped that I only imagined that you were awake," Kurapika regretfully stated as Azalea glanced up to find that it was the blond's lap she'd been sleeping on.

"He's awake?" Leorio parroted nervously. "Why didn't you tell me he was awake!? James, you know I didn't really mean what I said… I only meant… What I mean was… It was just my mouth running off on its own again…"

"You don't have to make excuses," Azalea murmured as she sat up the rest of the way and discovered that Kurapika had draped the blue and red tabard he usually wore over her like a blanket. Her blush deepened even more as she pulled it off of her and self consciously passed it back to the blond without looking while she added a soft, "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"Where are we and how much time did we lose while I slept?" Azalea asked tentatively as she focused on unbuttoning her cloak when she realized she'd forgotten to do so earlier; an attempt to avoid meeting anyone's gaze so she could hide her discomfort a bit longer.

"We're at the base of the tower and you've been sleeping for around twenty-five or twenty-six hours," Kurapika replied as he placed his hand on Azalea's arm. "How are you feeling? You were looking rather gray after you destroyed the huge boulder that nearly crushed us."

"I'm fine… and did you say I slept a full day? How much time do we have left and how much further do you think we have to go?"

"We passed the task, James," Gon declared as he pounced on James from behind and wrapped his arms around the witch in a hug; making Azalea jump at the unexpected contact. "You and Kurapika tied for thirteenth place because he carried you out. Killua was twelfth, I was fourteenth, and Leorio was fifteenth."

"Can you tell me how you trapped your bag?" Killua inquired as he took a seat right beside the witch while Gon continued to lean against her with his arms wrapped around her neck. "Leorio and Gon both got zapped when they tried to sneak into it."

"We weren't sneaking… we were looking for the bottled water and a bite of food," Leorio grumbled.

"Sorry, I should have warned everyone that I'm the only one that can take anything out of my book bag. I had a… security feature installed to prevent theft when I had it upgraded over the summer. You guys could have woken me up and I'd have gotten the food out for you if I'd known you all were hungry."

"You needed the rest; you were utterly exhausted and Leorio feared that you'd not make it if you weren't allowed to rest until you fully recovered," Kurapika stated as he passed Azalea her book bag; the blond had carried it in the witch's stead since her match against Leroute.

"Oh," Azalea replied in shock as she glanced up first to meet Kurapika's gaze before she shifted around to glance at Leorio who was studying Azalea rather critically as the man's brown eyes ran over every inch of Azalea's form; something that had the witch feeling very self-conscious and nervous.

It was a look that she usually saw on Madam Pomfrey's face and Azalea shuddered; that look scared her because it usually meant she'd be stuck in the Hospital Ward for another two or three days and fed all kinds of horrible tasting potions. To avoid giving away her discomfort and to escape that look, Azalea dove into her book bag (dislodging Gon in the process) and began pulling out everything she'd need to make their small group some sandwiches. She also pulled out several cauldron cakes, some pumpkin pasties, bottled water (to make some tea), the tin of tea leaves, five bottles of Butterbeer, and the camping teapot and cup set. After a moment's debate, she also pulled out a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and a handful of Chocolate Frogs.

"Just how much crap do you have in that bag anyway?" Leorio asked as he moved a little closer to the group now that he no longer feared Azalea striking out at him for his earlier comments and he tried to peek inside of the bag.

"I'd bought enough supplies to feed a family of four for three months because I didn't know if there'd be food on the ship for me or how long I'd be on the ship until I reached the site of the exam; which would have been enough food to last me for a full year. I also packed a year's supply of candy."

"How do you fit that much food in there when you have all kinds of dishes, clothes, and camping equipment as well?" Killua asked in surprise.

"With careful packing using my exceptional organization skills," Azalea replied with mock seriousness.

Kurapika burst out laughing and Azalea grinned as she briefly glanced in the blond's direction while trying to ignore the flip-flopping sensation that suddenly attacked her stomach. To hide the blush that was spreading across her face yet again, Azalea began putting together their sandwiches. Another pair of hands soon took the supplies from her hand and she glanced up in surprise to find Kurapika passing everything to Killua, Gon, and Leorio.

"The three of them can make the sandwiches and I will make the tea while you rest a bit longer," Kurapika stated when he noticed Azalea looking at him.

"I'm fine."

"I'm sure you will be eventually but your face is still flushed and I'd rather not risk you getting another fever just to make us something to eat when there are still two or three more Phases left to face."

"Another fever? I don't remember having a fever."

"Well you did."

"Oh."

"Hey, James; what happened to Hedwig?" Gon asked as he glanced up from where he was spreading margarine, mayo, and mustard on the bread while Leorio sliced up the onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, and cheese and Killua layered the various ingredients on those pieces that had already been covered with the spreads. "I haven't seen her since we first reached the Tower."

"She's hopefully getting some information for me."

"Huh? How would an owl do that?" Leorio inquired curiously.

"She was trained to carry the post."

"What post? Wouldn't that be a little heavy for her? Why a post? I mean, what good is sending a stick of wood to someone? And how would a post help her get information?" Leorio fired back as he frowned.

"Not that kind of post. Post as in letters and bills," Azalea clarified with a snort.

"Oh. She's like a homing pigeon than?"

"No and if you call her that where she can hear you, she'll take offense and beat you about the head with her wings and scratch at you with her talons and beak. She's highly intelligent and doesn't like being insulted any more than a person would."

"Ah, point taken."

Nothing more was said as Kurapika poured out the tea while Azalea passed everyone a bottle of Butterbeer. When she got some funny looks from the others over the name of the drink she shrugged her shoulder and stated, "It's basically a kind of soda that I get back home and there isn't really enough alcohol in it to give a person a buzz let alone make them drunk." '_Unless you happen to be a house elf,_' Azalea added silently.

The witch then opened her own bottle, took a small drink, and let out a soft sigh of pleasure as the drink warmed her belly before spreading through the rest of her body. A brief flash of pain hit her as she heard the others let out pleased exclamations of surprise and pleasure over the taste and the warmth; their responses reminding her of the first time she'd snuck out of the castle to join Ron and Horatio in Hogsmeade.

She rolled the bottle back and forth between her hands as the worry that had driven her to contact Fred and George returned thanks to Gon's earlier question about Hedwig. She also couldn't help but worry about Hedwig's health as she had no idea just how far the owl would have to travel to reach England.

"Here, you need to eat too," Kurapika insisted as he shoved a sandwich under Azalea's nose.

"Thanks, Kura," Azalea replied automatically as she accepted the sandwich; the witch once again not realizing she'd shortened the older boy's name or that she'd practically caressed his name with her mouth as she spoke it. She also failed to notice the light flush that crossed Kurapika's face or the smirk that Leorio wore on his face over both the nickname and Kurapika's obvious response to the way said nickname had been uttered. After taking a few bites, Azalea paused and glanced up as she asked, "Who else has passed the Third Phase and how much longer until the applicants' time to complete the task is up?"

"Look behind you," Leorio suggested while Killua stated, "There's still another eighteen hours and thirty-two minutes before the time limit runs out."

Azalea took a moment to process both answers before she glanced over her shoulder to find a number of people spread out around the large round room that they'd ended up inside of. She flinched when her eyes briefly met Hisoka's across the distance before she quickly looked away from the disturbing man while a shudder walked up her spine. She then cast a second look over the other applicants as she mentally tallied the number of people present.

"There's twenty-four that have passed so far, including the five of us," Kurapika stated as Azalea finally pulled her eyes away from the others that had been eying her as she'd looked them over. "Numbers forty-four, three-eighty-four, fifty-three, two-ninety-four, two-sixty-two, one-ninety-one, three-oh-one, eighty, two-eighty-one, one thirty-two, and two-thirteen were all here before us; the rest of them showed up over the past twenty hours."

"That means that there is another twenty-nine people that could still potentially pass," Azalea mused as she recalled that there were fifty-four people that had been dumped on the top of Trick Tower – including the man that had been carried off by the strange flying creature.

"No, only twenty-eight; one of the applicants that made it out just minutes before us died and his body was removed while you were still sleeping," Leorio corrected with a slight frown. "Chances are a number of other applicants died inside the Tower as well; those traps we got through were certainly deadly enough and the other routes through the tower undoubtedly had more of the same. There's a high chance that the other applicants also faced prisoners at some point."

Nothing more was said after that as all five of them returned to their food. Every few minutes, Azalea would feel at least one pair of eyes burning a hole in her back and each time she felt them she couldn't help but cringe and hunch her shoulders as she had no doubt that it was Hisoka's gaze that kept landing on her. It wasn't until Azalea offered the others some of the Every Flavor Beans that she finally stopped worrying about the creepy man as their reactions to the more disgusting flavors cracked her up.

"Urgh… what the hell was that one! I swear it tasted like vomit!" Killua exclaimed as he tried to scrape the taste out of his mouth.

"That's because it probably was a vomit flavored bean," Azalea retorted with a snicker as she shook the box of beans to make them rattle around. "When they say every flavor, they mean every flavor. I know someone who once ate one that tasted like earwax. The black pepper ones are pretty gross too. And Ron swore up and down that one of his brothers ate a booger flavored one."

"Who's Ron?" Kurapika asked in a tone that almost sounded jealous.

Azalea paled a bit over the slip; she'd been purposefully avoiding saying anyone's name so that there was no chance her friends could be found and hurt because of her. She trusted Kurapika and mostly trusted the other three she'd been traveling with but she did not trust any of the other applicants and trusted the full-fledged Hunters even less. Dropping her eyes, Azalea let her shoulders slump as she traded the box of beans for a Chocolate Frog and stared at the colorful cardboard box the Frog was packaged in.

"Is there something wrong, James?" Gon asked as he noted Azalea's change in mood.

Azalea shook her head and discreetly pulled out her wand so she could check the other applicants' positions and cast a privacy bubble around their small group. If she was going to speak of her friends, then she was going to make damn sure that no one else heard another word she said.

"Please don't say his name again; I slipped up. I don't want anyone to know the names of my friends least they attempt to seek them out with the intent to harm them because of me."

"Why would someone harm your friends because of you?" Gon asked in confusion.

"So the guy you named is _just_ a friend?" Kurapika asked casually a split second later as he slightly stressed the word just.

"No, he's one of my best friends. And people tend to target those around me in order to hurt me. It's why I kept trying to ditch you guys… I didn't want you to be targeted because of me."

"You're very close to the guy you named?" Leorio inquired as the taller teen cast a sideways glance at Kurapika who'd dropped his face and clenched his hands for some reason.

"Well, yeah, he and his family sort of adopted me after my first year at… at the boarding school I attended; so, he's like a brother to me. All of his older brothers treat me as their little… as one of their family and I'm even closer to his little sister as she's the only… well she's the closest thing to a sister I've ever had. I mean we fight sometimes and Ron can be a real jealous jerk at other times but he's stuck by my side for the most part since our first year no matter what trouble finds me; not counting the month and a half he blamed me for what happened at the start of our fourth year. At least… he did. Don't know if he still will now."

"How come none of your friends came with you to enter the exam?" Killua asked.

"Most of them don't know I'm here. I… I kinda ditched my guard, sorta blackmailed my uncle into giving me my cousin's boarding pass, and ran away to enter the exam," Azalea sheepishly admitted as she blushed again while playing with the pull string on the Chocolate Frog packaging. "I wrote to everyone at each port during the six months I spent on the ship but I never got a reply back because we were always on the move and I never told them how to contact me in return so I don't even know if they're still talking to me. It's also entirely possible that they are pissed with me for nearly getting them killed roughly seven months ago on top of taking off the way I did."

"You ran away from home?" Leorio repeated incredulously while at the same time Kurapika asked, "Ditched your guard?"

"Well, yeah I ran away. I'm technically ditching my sixth year at… at my school right now. And while I might have considered Hog… err the cas… my school as home; there was no one there that would have been willing to train me. If there had been, then they'd have been teaching me what I needed to know from the moment I started instead of trying to pretend I was just another one of the students. Dumble… the Headmaster knew… he _knew_ what I'd have to face and he wasted five years when he could have been training me properly. And yeah I had a guard… don't rightly know if they were meant to be my bodyguard or my prison guard though since they did a rather piss-pour job of protecting me."

"Train you for what?" Killua inquired out of curiosity.

Azalea hesitated for a moment before she shook her head and flatly stated, "It's not important."

"Bullshit," Leorio retorted matter-of-factly. "If it wasn't important, then you wouldn't be here right now. Whatever it is that you need to be trained to do, it's the reason why you believe that you have no choice but to pass the Hunter's Exam."

Azalea glanced up sharply to meet Leorio's eyes before she swallowed thickly and jerked her gaze away; her mind automatically going to the words of the prophecy that had set her on her current course. She then reached up to let her fingers dance over the gauze that still hid her scar as she closed her eyes and tried not to vomit as everything that scar represented flashed through her mind all at once.

"James…?"

"I can't tell you. He's willing to kill for that information and it wouldn't be right for me to paint that kind of target on the four of you."

Silence fell over the group after that until Leorio casually asked, "So, James… you got a girlfriend waiting for you back home?"

"Huh? A what? Oh, hell no; don't even joke about that! I have no interest in dating any girl. And I'd rather throw myself off of the Astronomy Tower during a thunder storm than spend a single minute alone with any member of my fan-club."

"You have a fan-club? How the hell did you get a fan-club? Come to think of it, why would you even have a fan-club?"

"Of course he has a fan-club; those eyes of his could turn just about anyone's head," Kurapika grumbled in response to Leorio's questions and Azalea turned to stare at the blond in surprise.

"Having a fan-club sounds so cool," Gon and Killua both exclaimed at the same time.

"You wouldn't say that if you had one of your own; fan-boys and fan-girls are the scariest creatures on earth," Azalea solemnly countered as she pulled her eyes away from Kurapika to glance at the two twelve year olds. "Pray that you never have the misfortune of attracting their notice because fans travel in large packs and they are known to shriek like banshees when the object of their affection is in sight. They will also fall viciously upon one another if they even think one of their fellow club members has been noticed by their target."

"Seriously, why do you have a fan-club?" Leorio repeated.

Azalea glanced at her hands and ripped open the box of the Chocolate Frog in her hand, automatically snagging the animated frog out of the air as it tried to escape. She didn't notice the strange looks she was getting when she bit the head off of the frog while she tried to decide on whether or not she wanted to reveal any more about herself. A glance inside of the Chocolate Frog container had her letting out a snort over the irony of the fact that the Famous Witch Card in that box just happened to be one of hers. She stared down at the picture of herself wearing her tournament robes from her fourth year; the most recent card of her published by the company that made the Chocolate Frogs. She then tucked the box into her left pocket as she finally answered the question.

"I've been considered something of a celebrity back home since I was a baby and my father's family was considered part of the nobility in the very small community that I am from and they were rather well off. All the royalties I earn each time someone uses my name or face on their products or in their books have only added to the vast fortune I inherited. A lot of people are more interested in that fortune than they are in me and the rest can't look passed my fame."

"Why are you so famous?" Gon asked innocently.

"Because I supposedly did something no one else had ever done."

"Oh, what was it you were supposed to have done?" Leorio prompted when Azalea didn't say anything further.

"I lived when I should have died."

"Is that a real frog you are eating?" Killua inquired as everyone else fell uncomfortably silent.

"Huh? This? No, it's just a piece of chocolate. They only have one or two real good jumps in them and once you bite into them they stop moving."

Azalea ended up opening up the other four Chocolate Frogs and let the others run around trying to catch them while she carefully tucked the four extra cards that had been inside of the packages into her bag so that they wouldn't be seen. Gon and Killua were soon wrestling over the last frog when it escaped from Leorio and the taller teen yelled at them before he chased the two of them all through the room after they broke the candy in half and ate it. Azalea snorted over their antics and packed away the left over food before she picked her hat up from where she spotted it sitting on the ground and settled it onto her head as she sat back against the wall just a few feet away from Kurapika.

"I'm surprised you told us everything you did just now," Kurapika ventured a few minutes later. "Aren't you worried that someone was listening in just now?"

"I cast a privacy ward; same as I did when I was sharing my past up top. No one outside of the ward would have heard a word we said even if we'd yelled it out at the top of our lungs."

"Nifty trick, that."

"Yeah, it's come in handy a few times."

"It's not really technology that allows you to carry so much stuff in your bag; is it?"

"No, it's not."

"Can you tell me what it is?"

"You already know what it is."

"Magic," Kurapika stated a little hesitantly as he turned to look at Azalea.

"Yeah, magic."

"Does that make you a witch?"

"Something like that, I suppose; though the correct term for a male magic user is wizard," Azalea countered as she tried not to fidget over the subject of gender specific titles as she didn't want anyone to see through her disguise.

"What else can you do with your magic?"

"Quite a few things. I was taught Transfiguration; spells that turn one thing into another. So, yes, I could have turned Leorio into a toad if I was so inclined and I knew the proper spell. Charms; spells that affect an object without actually changing the basic structure of the object. An example would be making a feather float or causing someone's shoes to stick to the floor. And Defense Against the Dark Arts was where I learned how to protect myself from hexes, jinxes, and curses as well as dangerous creatures. My other classes didn't really focus on wanded magic."

"It was you."

"Huh? What was me?"

"When Leorio and I helped Gon save that deck hand during the storm, we should have slipped overboard when we missed him but our hands unexpectedly stuck to the water soaked gunwale."

"Oh, yeah, that was me. I'd been wandlessly casting weak Sticking Charms on the feet of all the sailors but couldn't reach them all before the one guy was swept overboard. The Sticking Charm I used to catch you and Leorio was a more powerful one since you were far enough away that I had to use my wand. I'd also caught the deck hand using the Levitation Charm so that Gon would be able to reach him before he hit the water and was pulled under."

"What was it you did to the man that was following us on our way to Zaban City? And how did you follow us from the cedar to the city? Did you really fly?"

"I petrified him with a Full Body-Bind Curse and then stunned him so he couldn't follow us again. He'd have been unable to move for about three or four hours and stayed unconscious for another six on top of that because I hit him with the second spell at point blank range."

"And the flying?"

"Would you believe me if I said used a broom?"

"Get out of here… a broom?"

"Yeah… a Firebolt to be specific; goes from zero to one-hundred-fifty miles an hour in under sixty seconds."

"Let me guess, you all wear robes and pointed hats too? I mean really, a broom? How stereotypical!"

"The hats are annoying but the robes aren't too bad for the most part; depending on which style you get. I prefer my dueling cloak over actual robes though."

"Are you serious? You really do wear long robes and pointed hats?"

"Not if I don't have to… that was mostly my school uniform. Most of the adults still wear robes but I think they're hard to fight and run in."

"Do you have a cat as your familiar too?"

"Nah, I've got Hedwig. She's better than a cat."

"She's not a regular owl, is she?"

"Nope, not at all; she's a breed of postal owl and she's three times smarter than a normal snowy owl and twice as smart as any other postal owl I've encountered. She can find any one, any where in the world."

"Beautiful and smart; a winning combination if there ever was one," Kurapika quipped with a laugh.

"You forgot loyal and protective. She's also a great listener… I can't count the number of times I've poured my heart out to her since she was given to me just before my first year. I sometimes think she knows me better than my friends do."

"I bet they know you better than you think they do."

Azalea just shrugged her shoulders as she glanced up to find Killua and Gon both hanging off of Leorio as the taller teen tried to shake them free; both twelve year olds laughing while the older teen complained loudly. She then dropped her head back against the wall, closed her eyes, and let out a soft sigh as she slowly drifted off to sleep once more; the sixteen year old still somewhat tired from her earlier magical exhaustion.

"You're going to get a stiff neck sitting there like that."

"Most likely," Azalea agree as she opened one eye and rolled her head sideways to peek at Kurapika. "I wouldn't be surprised if you were speaking from experience, Kura; if the position I woke up in earlier was any indication."

"I didn't mind and you really needed the sleep," Kurapika stated without an ounce of shame and Azalea blushed a bit as she recalled the way she'd snuggled against the other teen's stomach. Her blush deepened when she recalled the way the blond had been running his fingers through her hair. As if the other teen knew exactly what she was thinking he added, "Your hair was surprisingly soft. I half expected it to be full of knots; what with the way it sticks up every which way."

"My hair is a curse; it never lays flat no matter what I do to it."

"Why not grow it out then or cut it shorter?"

"I'm not allowed to grow my hair out and cutting it shorter doesn't work either; my uncle used to drag me to the barber's all the time and I'd always come home looking the same as I did when we left no matter how much they cut off. My aunt even took a pair of kitchen scissors to my hair once and cut it down to the scalp only for it to grow back overnight. Oh, was she ever pissed with me the next day. I must have spent an entire week locked in my cupboard for that stunt even if I hadn't known what had happened at the time since I hadn't yet learned about my magic."

"Your cupboard…?" Kurapika choked out as he whipped his head sideways to stare at Azalea in shock, a hit of scarlet coloring his eyes.

Azalea blanched when she realized exactly what she said and quickly uttered, "It's nothing… just forget about it."

"No. What did you mean she locked you in _your_ cupboard?"

"Kura…"

"James…"

"Please drop it, Kurapika; it's nothing… really… it was never really a big deal."

"Your relatives abusing you is not nothing, James."

"They didn't abuse me," Azalea insisted quietly. "They never beat me or anything like that."

"James, you're sixteen years old, are barely five feet tall, and weigh less than Killua. You flinch away whenever anyone touches you when you aren't expecting it and I have yet to see you eat a full three meals in one day let alone finish a full meal when you do eat. Not mention the fact that children don't have cupboards; they have bedrooms. Abuse isn't just a reference to someone being physically harmed."

"They still didn't abuse me… they just never liked me much because they were afraid of my magic."

"James…"

"No, they didn't. I have a bedroom now and they mostly ignore me during the summers when I'm not in school."

"James…"

"Please just let it go."

"It's not right."

"It's over and done and talking about it won't change the past."

"It's not over, they're still hurting you now," Kurapika pointed out as he slid closer. "If you can't even admit that what they did to you as wrong, then it is going to keep on hurting you."

"I never said how they treated was right," Azalea countered tiredly. "I just can't blame them for hating me; they never wanted me in the first place but they weren't given a choice in the matter. They did take me in though and I had a roof over my head, clothes to wear, and food to eat so long as I followed the rules and finished my chores. I may not have been happy but it could have been far worse."

"How…?"

"They could have beaten me black and blue regularly, they could have thrown me out on the streets, or they could have simply smothered me to death with a pillow the day they found me on their porch and thrown my body out with the trash. They didn't; they took me in, grudgingly perhaps, but they still took me in. Knowing that, I can forgive them their pettiness."

"And here I thought Gon was the only one in our group that was that innocent and naïve," Leorio deadpanned from where he stood just inside of the ward; the older teen had joined them some twenty minutes earlier without their knowledge.

"What good would it do me to hate them in return?" Azalea demanded as she glanced up at Leorio. "It would be no different than me hating you for fearing the madness that lives inside of me. But I can't hate you for fearing something that I myself fear and I won't hate them for being human enough to fear something that they can't protect themselves from."

"You're a rather stubborn little runt, aren't you?" Leorio asked with a huff as he dropped down on the floor.

"That's an understatement, if I've ever heard one," Kurapika snorted as he crossed his arms over his chest and scowled.

"I may not know how to turn you both into toads but I can and will hex you in tender places if you annoy me enough."

Leorio half pouted and half scowled over the threat while Kurapika just laughed before he reached over, grabbed Azalea in a headlock as he knocked her hat off, and gave her a noogie. Azalea yelped in indignation and promptly hit the blond with a wandless Tickling Charm that soon had him rolling around on the floor in hysterics. The moment he was released from the charm, Kurapika tackled her and tickled her in return. Azalea twisted and squirmed as she laughed uncontrollably while trying to catch the taller teen with another charm.

Gon and Killua both gleefully joined in the tickle fight when they returned a few seconds later. Azalea gave up trying to use her magic at that point as she simply resorted to using her fingers to hit the sensitive spots that drew the highest squeals from the others. It was the most fun Azalea had had since the day of the second task when she'd spent hours diving into the canyon on the top of Mt. Mafutatsu. Eventually, the four of them crashed in a tangled pile and slept for the next seven hours.

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><p><strong>AN:<strong> _A little bit of fluff and a little bit of drama along with some obvious hints of Kurapika harboring a crush. We'll see his thoughts on the matter in a future chapter; as most of the story is from Azalea's POV as I'd mentioned previously. I think. Next chapter will wrap up the third phase and head into the fourth phase._

_Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter. ~ Jenn_


	11. Hunter x vs x Hunted

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Eleven: Hunter x vs. x Hunted<span>

Azalea found herself sitting between Killua and Gon as the three of them played I Spy during the final two hours of the Third Phase while Leorio took a nap and Kurapika read a book. There were now twenty-seven applicants that had made it to the base of Trick Tower and the chances of someone else making it during the time remaining were dwindling rapidly. The witch listened to Gon and Killua bicker back and forth around her over technicalities and couldn't help but grin to herself as the two of them reminded her sharply of Ron and Horatio; her best friends always bickered over the silliest things.

Her grin slid off her face a moment later as the guilt of abandoning them so she could take the Hunter's Exam stabbed at her once more. Sighing, Azalea reached out and grabbed both twelve year olds in a head lock to shut them up and a smothered laugh had her glancing over to where Kurapika was sitting. The blond's brown eyes were dancing merrily as the older teen laughed at her over the top of the book and Azalea felt her stomach do that flip-flopping thing again. Before she could get caught up in her confusion over what she felt for her fellow applicant, both boys wriggled free and tackled Azalea to the ground.

An hour and forty-six minutes later, Azalea was smugly sitting between Gon and Killua once again while both twelve year olds sulked and rubbed their smarting behinds; Azalea had resorted to using wandless Stinging Hexes more than once during their impromptu wrestling match to get the upper hand.

Sneaking a glance over at Kurapika, Azalea let her mind return to its earlier train of thought the moment brown eyes flicked up to meet emerald. Blushing over getting caught staring, Azalea dropped her eyes and pulled her hat lower as she slouched down in mortification. At the same time, her inner voice was taunting her about Kurapika again; whispering soft reminders of what it felt like to wake up on the teen's lap, how it felt to have the teen's body pressed right up against her, and how pleasant it had been to feel the teen's fingers run through her hair. It was almost enough to drive her crazy because the voice wasn't helping her to understand what it was she was feeling or why she was feeling it in the first place.

Letting out a soft growl, Azalea reached up and threaded her hands through her hair and firmly told herself to shut up before threatening to Obliviate herself just to get a moment's peace. The sound of her inner voice cackling madly over the threat had Azalea groaning in frustration over how stupid it was to try erasing her own memories; Lockhart a shining example of what could go wrong. Though, to be fair, that was mostly the fault of Ron's defective wand but that was a good thing; otherwise it would have been Ron and Azalea that were sitting in St. Mungo's permanent ward without a clue as to who they were.

The sound of stone scraping stone as another hidden door opened drew Azalea from her inner turmoil and she glanced up just in time to see a familiar man stagger into the room. Azalea's lip curled up in distaste as she uttered a low, "I spy a talking jackass in blue."

"Huh? Are you referring to Tonpa, James?" Gon asked as he glanced at Azalea in surprise.

"I hate bullies," Azalea replied as she sneered the moment Tonpa glanced in their direction; the older man glaring hatefully at their group – specifically at Azalea.

Azalea's eyes tracked the short, fat man as he crossed the room to put as much distance between them as he could. A second later, Azalea's eyes connected with Hisoka's across the room and the red-haired man licked his lips provocatively as he grinned at the witch. Unable to suppress the shiver that danced up her spine, Azalea tore her eyes from the psycho and dug into her book bag for the Defense book that Remus and Sirius had given her over a year ago now. She ran her fingers over the paper covered spine of the now much worn book (the cover of the book concealed to prevent anyone from reading the title) as tears pricked the back of her eyes over the knowledge that it was the last gift she'd ever receive from either man; grieving for their deaths (potential in Remus's case) and not for the missed gifts.

Cracking open the book, Azalea discreetly wiped the tears from her eyes as she skimmed through the index looking for a few useful spells that might come in handy the next time she came across Hisoka. She'd barely picked what looked to be a promising set of paired spells and thumbed to the proper page so she could read through the description of the spell and start memorizing the incantation and wand movements when the seventy two hours they'd been given to complete the task ran out. At that precise moment, a buzzer went off and Lippo announced that the Third Phase was officially over and that twenty-nine applicants had passed (the man automatically counting the applicant that died upon reaching the base of the tower).

Stone grated on stone one last time as the door leading outside of the tower opened.

Azalea tossed her book back into her book bag and slowly climbed to her feet as she grimly settled her hat further down on her head and dispelled the privacy ward that she'd put up earlier with a wandless Finite. The witch fully intended to be the last one to exit the room (she had no wish to leave Hisoka or Tonpa behind her) only for Gon to take that choice away as the twelve year old grabbed hold of her sleeve and promptly dragged her across the room. Azalea glanced back once to give Kurapika a pointed look that clearly said; 'See! He's dragging me around again.' The blond only laughed at her in return and Azalea pouted even as she was yanked out into the sunlight.

Killua sped passed them seconds later and Gon dropped Azalea's sleeve in favor of dashing after the pale boy as the two of them took pleasure in being out beneath the sun once more. Azalea moved away from the door and searched the sky; hoping to see her feathered companion. After a minute of searching, she let out a piercing whistle to call her on the off chance that she'd found a place to rest for a bit and didn't know she was out of the tower yet. She let out two more whistles; the third and final one sustained by a trace of her magic as her desperation fueled the sound.

Disappointment and fear gripped Azalea's belly and she kicked at a loose rock in frustration when there was still no sign of Hedwig. She knew she was being unreasonable, the owl had only been gone three days so far and there was no telling just how far away from England they actually were. It could easily be two or three weeks before she found her once more. The problem was that three weeks might be far too long to wait. She was just wondering if maybe she should have quit and gone home when she had the chance instead of sending Hedwig on a fool's errand when Kurapika stepped up beside her and touched her elbow.

Azalea jumped and whipped around in mild distress over being snuck up on before blushing when the blond arched an eyebrow and gave her a pointed look. She quickly glanced away and shook her head; knowing exactly what the older boy had silently been referring to. Kurapika then sighed and grabbed her in a headlock and dragged her back to where the others were waiting. Azalea yelped indignantly before hitting the blond in the rear with a wandless Stinging Hex that had him letting out a yelp of his own as he let go of Azalea and rubbed at his smarting behind. Azalea then very maturely stuck her tongue out when Kurapika glowered at her in response.

"Brat," Kurapika huffed as he playfully shoved Azalea.

"Takes one to know one," Azalea countered unrepentantly as she shoved the blond back.

"Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to congratulate all twenty-eight of you on successfully escaping Trick Tower," a rather short man with a wide, spiked Mohawk wearing a black uniform with write trim and overlarge glasses intoned once everyone had exited the building.

Azalea recognized the man's voice as that of Lippo's; the examiner that had presided over the Third Phase through the various speakers spread throughout the entire tower. Azalea snarled silently and clenched her fists as an overwhelming desire to punch the annoying man rose up. Kurapika's hand dropping onto her shoulder startled Azalea out of her rage and Azalea glanced up at the taller teen in surprise before she flushed as she realized she'd just lost control of her emotions again and glanced away from the blond again to focus on Lippo's speech.

"Only two more phases of this year's Hunter's Exam remain; the Fourth Phase and the Final Phase. The Fourth Phase will be taking place on Zevil Island; if you look behind me you can see the island for yourself. I will now explain the rules of the Fourth Phase."

Lippo paused for a moment as a tall man dressed in olive green wheeled out a small square cart with what looked like a simple box seated on top of it. Lippo waited for everyone to shift a little closer before he continued, "All of you will be required to draw lots in order to decide who will be hunting who during the next task. There are a total of twenty-eight cards to choose from; one card for each applicant that passed the Third Phase. The order you will draw in is the order in which you completed the previous task. Will the first person please come forward and pick your card?"

"Shit," Azalea cursed as Hisoka strode forward and selected his card. "You guys do realize that there's a chance we could be forced to fight each other at this point, right?"

"A small one; after all there are only five of us plus twenty-three additional applicants," Kurapika replied as he placed his hand over his badge.

"I'd be far more worried about having Hisoka hunting one of us," Leorio countered as the next three applicants were each called up to take a card.

Before Azalea could begin to panic over the mere thought of having to face Hisoka for any reason, Killua was heading up to draw his card. It was at that point that Azalea realized that she didn't remember what place number she'd been assigned as she'd been completely delirious with exhaustion at the time.

"Er… what number did you guys say I was again?"

"Thirteen, so go draw," Kurapika drawled as he shoved Azalea forward.

"But didn't you tie for thirteenth," Gon pointed out loud enough for Azalea to hear him as she stepped up to the box.

"Draw, James," Kurapika instructed when Azalea glanced back to frown at the blond.

"Blonds are annoying," Azalea muttered under her breath as she reached in to take a card before she glanced up to scowl at Lippo. As she withdrew her hand, Azalea muttered, "You, on the other hand, are a just a prick."

The tall guy in olive green burst out laughing while Lippo scowled in response to the insult. Azalea ignored them both and walked away without bothering to glance at the card she held; passing Kurapika on the way back to the others.

"Don't think I won't get you back for that, Kura," Azalea promised as she flashed the teen a small scowl.

"You're such a tease," Kurapika retorted with a smirk before he quickly drew a card and caught back up to Azalea so that they reached the others at the same time as Gon took off to go fetch his card.

"I am not above hexing you in tender places," Azalea drawled as Leorio moved to draw his card next.

"Are you flirting with me again?"

"You really want me to hurt you, don't you?"

"Promises, promises."

Azalea snorted, shook her head, and muttered about annoying blonds under her breath as a blush spread across her cheeks over the husky tone that the older boy had used in reply; making it sound like Azalea had been promising something far more intimate than a quick and painful hexing. She shoved her hands in her pocket and grumbled when Kurapika just laughed over the fact that Azalea hadn't had anything to say in reply.

Their attention was soon being drawn back to the examiner as Tonpa drew the last card and they were instructed to remove the seals covering the face of the cards. Azalea stared down at the number in her hand as Lippo informed them that the number on their card was their target and that their objective was to steal their target's ID badge. When Lippo said that they could do as they pleased to retrieve their badges, including killing their targets, Azalea let out a hissing growl of disgust.

"Listen closely! Your target's badge is worth three points. Your own badge is worth another three points. All other badges are worth one point each. You must have a total of six points in order to advance to the Final Phase of this year's Hunter's Exam. Your transportation to Zevil Island will be arriving in about ten minutes; please do not leave the area as you will be disqualified if you miss the boat."

Azalea grabbed hold of Gon and Killua and pulled the two of them with her as she moved away from the rest of the applicants while hissing for Kurapika and Leorio to follow them. Once they were clear, Azalea crouched down, pulled out her wand, cast a privacy ward, and ordered, "Stand together in a line in front of me so no one can see me and hand me your badges. Don't argue with me, Leorio; we don't have time."

Gon was the first one to hand over his badge and Azalea concentrated as she cast the Duplication Spell to create a dozen copies of Gon's badge. She then spelled a holding charm on each of the fakes to make certain they wouldn't vanish until she canceled the spell holding them. Next, she cast a Disillusionment Charm on the original and handed it back to Gon.

"Stick that back to the inside of your jacket and wear one of the fakes on the outside. If someone attacks you for your badge, just let them take the fake you are wearing and then replace it with another as needed. This way you'll only need to gather three points each and won't have to worry about someone else taking yours. Tuck the rest of these away in your bag Gon, and don't let anyone see them. You're next Killua."

Killua's badge was copied in short order followed by Kurapika's, Leorio's, and her own. Azalea stood up the moment she was finished and let her eyes search out the other applicants as she noticed they were all still milling around eying each other distrustfully. She then glanced back at her companions as she stated, "I intend to collect the badges of anyone I stumble across in order to limit the number of people that will make it to the Final Phase. I don't want to ruin your chances to pass the task though… so, if you don't want me to steal your target's badge; I'm going to need to know who your target is."

"Hisoka," Gon quietly revealed and Azalea snapped around to stare at the twelve year old in shock.

"Gon," Kurapika murmured in concern.

"I'll be fine. I'm scared but I'm excited too."

"I can steal his badge for you, if you want," Azalea offered as she used her wand to carve Hisoka's number onto the back of the card with her target's number.

"No. I want to do this myself."

"Promise me you'll be careful," Leorio ordered as he dropped his hand on the twelve year old's head.

"I will."

"And the rest of you?" Azalea asked as she tried to ignore the uneasiness she felt over Gon facing Hisoka.

"I have number one-thirty-two but I don't remember who that is," Killua stated at the same time as Leorio replied, "I have number two-forty-six."

"One-thirty-two was one of the first eleven applicants to clear the Tower," Kurapika reminded the pale haired pre-teen before turning to Leorio to add, "Can't say I remember who number two-forty-six is though as he or she was not one of the first eleven and I didn't take note of everyone who arrived as I was otherwise occupied."

"Thanks, I think I remember him now," Killua replied as he blinked and spun around to search the faces of the other applicants while Leorio just frowned and joined Killua in scanning the other applicants.

"Who is your target, Kura?" Azalea asked after she finished carving both of those numbers onto the card with the others while she tried not to blush when she recalled exactly what Kurapika had been occupied with during the majority of the time after they'd reached the bottom of the tower. The knowing smirk on Kurapika's face wasn't helping though, nor was the laughter she could see dancing in his eyes.

"Number sixteen, Tonpa," Kurapika offered a few seconds later.

"If I find him first, I'll leave him his badge but I can't promise you he'll be alive," Azalea replied as she scowled off towards where Tonpa was standing. "I had intended to knock him out during the First Phase but I was interrupted by a pair of particularly stubborn brats."

"That's what you were going to do when you were trying to ditch us?" Killua asked incredulously. "We could have helped you get rid of him, ya know!"

"I didn't want anyone to know I was cheating to weed out the bullies," Azalea muttered as she glanced away from the pouting twelve year old. "And at that time I was still working very hard to hide the full extent of my abilities from everyone."

"Who do you have, James?" Gon asked when the twelve year old realized the witch hadn't mentioned her target yet.

"Number eighty-nine," Azalea absently replied as she added Tonpa's number to the card before she tucked her card away into her pocket along with her wand.

"I don't recall who that one is either and most everyone has already removed their badges," Killua stated with a frown.

"It's alright. I don't need a name or a face to get my target's badge."

"Are we all going to stick together again?" Gon asked.

"Probably best not to because we'll each need to hunt down our target," Kurapika pointed out as he briefly frowned in Azalea's direction. "We haven't yet been told how much time we will have and if we stay together there's a chance one or more of us will fail if we run out of time."

"We should make plans to meet up towards the end of the task though, in case one of us needs help because we ran into trouble along the way," Leorio suggested as he flicked his eyes towards Gon; reminding the group who Gon would have to target.

"If we meet up after roughly two-thirds of our time has passed, we can work together to collect extra badges for anyone who is short of the six needed points," Azalea proposed as she began pulling out bottles of water, fresh fruit, and packs of cauldron cakes and pumpkin pasties that she passed out to each of the others. When she noticed the questioning looks the others were giving her over the food she explained, "Since we could be on that island for days, this can at least hold you over if you can't find any edible plants or catch any game to eat."

There were murmurs of thanks before Killua announced the arrival of the boat and the five of them migrated after the rest of the applicants. Azalea was the last one to board the boat as she cast about one last time for any sign of Hedwig before she tucked her hands in her pocket and followed after the others. After learning that it would only take two hours for them to reach the other island, Azalea made her way to the bow of the boat so that she could stare out over the ocean.

"Are you worried?" Kurapika asked softly as he joined Azalea at the front of the boat a few minutes after the boat left the dock.

"Not for myself."

"You're talking about Gon."

"Yeah."

"I think he'll do just fine; he's a resourceful little guy and he was the one that came up with a way for us to get out of the tower faster when we were so worried about you not making it due to the high fever you'd developed. More importantly, what will you do if you are Hisoka's target?"

"I'm not."

"How do you know?"

"Because he would be devouring me with his eyes if I was," Azalea replied as she glanced sideways at the blond. "His gaze feels hungry every time he looks at me. It's the same look that the man who killed my mother gives me every time I come face to face with him; only Hisoka terrifies me in a way Riddle never could."

"He may hunt you down anyway; since the rules of the task will permit it."

"Don't worry; I've never been very good at playing the damsel in distress since I'm always the one rushing in to save the day. I also know more than one way to disappear."

"Pity, I think you'd look adorable in a dress."

"You only say that because you haven't seen how dashing I look decked out in silver armor."

"Do they actually make armor in midget size?"

"I wonder how you'd look with tentacles growing out of your ears," Azalea mused as she narrowed her eyes. "I'm thinking a nice muddy brown pair would compliment that blond mop you call hair."

"At least mine isn't a crow's nest."

"Funny, you didn't think there was anything wrong with my hair when you were running your fingers through it yesterday," Azalea teased in a low voice as she blushed bright red over her own boldness and turned to stare out at the ocean.

"As I recall, you quite enjoyed having my fingers run through your hair."

"I thought you were Hedwig; she's always mothered me like that."

"Uh huh, and do you make those cute little purring sounds when she runs her beak through your hair like you did when I was running my fingers through your hair?" Kurapika demanded softly as he leaned just a little closer and glanced at Azalea from the corner of his eye.

"Er… wh…what?" Azalea stuttered in shock as she whipped her head around to stare wide-eyed at the taller teen.

"You purred like a happy little kitten as you curled up in my lap and snuggled closer."

"Kitten…? Remind me to use you as a scratching post the next time I'm draped over your lap."

"Does that mean you want there to be a next time? That if I were to offer you the use of my lap as a pillow again that you'd willingly accept?" Kurapika asked in a playful tone that couldn't fully hide the underlying seriousness behind the questions as his brown eyes unflinchingly held Azalea's gaze.

Azalea's heart skipped several beats as her stomach did several back flips as that particular question unleashed a veritable flood of conflicting emotions. Taking a shaky breath, Azalea tore her eyes away from Kurapika's as she leaned against the gunwale and stared at the prow as it cut through the salty water below. She really had no idea what it was she wanted and with the prophecy looming over her head she wasn't entirely certain it would have mattered even if she did know.

"James…?"

"I don't know. I never… I mean I just… it's all so… and I… I just don't know."

"You don't have to give me an answer right now."

Silence fell between the two of them and Azalea let her thoughts wander where they would and soon found herself reviewing everything that had happened since Voldemort had shoved the vision of Sirius's capture into her mind on that fateful day during her History of Magic O.W.L. Exam. Inevitably, her thoughts turned to the prophecy as they usually did when she thought about that night and Azalea reached up to run her fingers over the bandages that were still covering her scar as snatches of Trelawney's voice echoed through her mind.

…_the Dark Lord will mark the child as his equal…_

Marked as his equal… both literally and figuratively as the Dark Lord had singled her out time and time again both before and after the night the wizard had left her the jagged scar upon her brow. Why her though? Why not Neville? Was she really chosen because she was a halfblood like Voldemort? Or had Voldemort learned about the Potter's heritage? Could the Dark Lord have used that knowledge to make his decision? Did Dumbledore mislead Azalea in an effort to keep Azalea from learning about her heritage?

Azalea had had to learn about the Potters in the dead of night after all; sneaking about under the cover of her invisibility cloak because any time she'd shown even the slightest of interest in learning about her father's family, Ron had made an effort to distract her. Did that mean Ron was watching her for Dumbledore? Spying on her to make certain that she remained weak and uninformed? Or was it more of Ron's petty jealousy because the boy hadn't wanted Azalea to use the money and connections that came with being the last Potter?

…_the child will have power the Dark Lord knows not…_

A power that Dumbledore had claimed was love. Really, love? What power could the word love hold for her when she didn't even know what love was? Dumbledore claimed that Voldemort could never understand love but what did that say about Azalea? How do you understand something you'd never felt? She supposed she cared about her friends on some levels but was that really love? Or was she simply protecting what she saw as hers the same way she used to protect what little food her relatives had given her from Dahlia and the other bullies. Or the way she hid her wand, jewelry, invisibility cloak, and photo album beneath the floorboards to keep them away from being found by the Dursleys?

Even if she did feel affection for Ron and Horatio, what good would that do her if she needed to understand love in order to use the mysterious power that the Dark Lord himself supposed did not know. Wouldn't it make far more sense if the power was an ability that few people could use? If it was something tangible that could be learned and mastered? A rare ability or skill like the one that the Potters had been rumored to wield. A power the likes of which hundreds of dark witches and wizards feared enough that they had hunted the Potter family until finally only one remained.

A power that Dumbledore potentially feared enough to make certain that Azalea never learned of its existence let alone learned how to utilize it.

…_either must die at the hand of the other…_

Kill or be killed; a choice between taking a life or walking to her death. No matter how many people fought on either side of the war, it would all come down to the two of them. In the end, the entire war would be settled by pitting Harriet Potter, the Girl-Who-Lived against Tom Riddle, the Dark Lord Voldemort; a virtually untrained girl against a man with decades of experience.

…_neither can live while the other survives…_

It would never end so long as they both lived. The war could last for years… for decades… for centuries, even… all because the two sides would forever struggle back and forth so long as they each had their rallying point. She'd never be free… could never be free… until she faced Voldemort and one of them finally destroyed the other. And if she should fail… if she should fall… then the world would suffer because _either must die at the hand of the other_… If Azalea could not kill Voldemort, then Voldemort would live on unopposed because there would be no one left who could strike him down. After all, the dead can not strike down the living from beyond the grave.

Azalea's knees buckled on her as the full weight of what was expected of her crashed down onto her shoulders and she bit her lip so hard she drew blood in order to hold back the scream of sheer frustration and terror that threatened to rip free from her mouth. A hand on her elbow prevented her from crashing to the deck and Azalea flinched as she finally recalled where she was and what she was doing. She desperately shoved her emotions back into a little box at the back of her mind before she self consciously pulled her arm free of the hand that had grabbed her.

"What happened, James?" Kurapika asked in concern.

"I lost my balance," Azalea muttered as she avoided looking at the blond and crossed her arms defensively.

"Don't lie to me," Kurapika snapped rather loudly and Azalea jumped in shock as she jerked her head up to stare at the taller boy. "If you can't or won't tell me fine… just tell me to butt out and I will; but don't stand there and lie to me."

"It wasn't a lie; it just wasn't the full truth."

"And the blood?" Kurapika demanded as he reached out and swiped his finger across Azalea's chin before holding it up so that Azalea could see the fresh blood dripping from the digit.

"I bit my lip."

Kurapika huffed and wiped his finger off on his tabard as he critically eyed the witch for another minute. Azalea didn't bother trying to hide or turn away. Eventually, Kurapika scowled and turned away and Azalea felt a small stab of guilt before she locked that emotion away as well.

"Was it because of what I asked earlier?"

"No. It has to do with my reason for taking the exam," Azalea replied softly as she reached up and wiped the rest of the blood from her chin as she probed her cut lip with her tongue. "Your question simply led my mind in endless circles until I tripped over a far bigger problem than merely trying to understand whether or not I wanted to end up in your lap again."

"Oh. I'm sorry, I snapped at you."

"It's alright. I imagine you've been on edge ever since you asked me your question and that waiting is really the last thing you want to do because it took a lot of guts to put yourself out there like that when you have no idea what I'm thinking," Azalea stated as she sagged back against the gunwale and dropped her head back so that she could stare up at the clouds overhead.

"Something like that."

"The problem I have is that I don't know if I can answer you. And it's not because I don't want to give you an answer but because I don't understand. There's part of me that wonders if I should even bother trying to find an answer. Or if it would be better that I don't give you an answer. It may sound mean and unfair but you have to understand, my answer could end up hurting you above and beyond just offending you or hurting your feelings."

"You're worried about targets," Kurapika stated as his eyes lit up in sudden understanding.

"Partially… mostly I'm referring to the fact that I'm living on borrowed time with what amounts to a death sentence hanging over my head."

Nothing more was said as the boat pulled up alongside a cliff where the water was deep and dropped anchor before putting out the gangplank. They'd reached Zevil Island and the Fourth Phase was about to start.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>__I know that this chapter was originally supposed to be up last Thursday but I had to deal with a minor plumbing emergency, get through a small bout of food poisoning, deal with the hullabaloo over Halloween, and catch up on a few other things. On top of that, I have to get my babies ready for their winter nap and give them their last meal of the year; so my updates may be a bit spotty for the next week or two. I will try not to go too long in between updates though; I really dislike disappearing for months at a time just as much as you dislike me not updating for months at a time.__

_Moving on, as I had stated in an earlier author's note, those of you reading my other Hunter x Hunter/HP crossover might have recognized bits and pieces of the story in this chapter from chapter eleven of Hunter x in the x Making and again that is because both stories originated from the same plot and morphed into two different plots from there. You know it's kind of funny that chapter eleven in both of the stories ended up at the same point in the timeline when they were so different just a few chapters ago. And as always, I tried to make both versions of Harry go about things differently even if they are in the same situation. =)  
><em>

_Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and the interactions between Azalea and Kurapika. Next chapter will be up in about four days… As always, thank you so much for taking the time to read, favorite, or follow the story and all of the reviews are appreciated even if it seems like I'm ignoring everyone because I've not really replied to many of them. I think what scares me the most about actually going through and replying is the fact that my inbox will be flooded with replies because the review system is set up through the PM function and I have trouble enough keeping up with my regular correspondences without adding those to the mix. _

_Still, one of these days I will make an effort to at least send out a few thank yous and answer some questions. I just have to find me some courage to face the daunting task. Of course, reading through the reviews always fills me with warm fuzzies because you guys are awesome like that. =)_

_*sets out dozens of baskets filled to the brim with virtual cookies, cakes, pies, brownies, and candies for all readers* ~ Jenn _


	12. Give x and x Take

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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><p><span>Chapter Twelve: Give x and x Take<span>

The tension between all twenty-eight applicants was high as they were told that they would be stranded on the island for one week; a full seven days. They would have seven days to collect their target's badge and seven days in which they would have to avoid having their badge taken by the one hunting them. The news that they would be let off the boat in two minute increments according to the order in which they completed the Third Phase was almost as unwelcome as the number of days they'd be trapped on the island; especially knowing that Hisoka would be the first to leave.

Azalea scowled as the five companions gathered together one last time and she dug into her book bag for the book she'd been reading when the time ran out for the third task and quickly flipped through the pages for the spell she'd been hoping to learn. She then spent the next fifteen minutes repeating the paired incantations under her breath and practicing the wand movements with her hand while ignoring the questioning looks the others were giving her.

Once she thought she had the spells down, Azalea cast the spell on Killua, who squawked over being the guinea pig, but Azalea knew she had to do the brat first because Killua had the lowest number of their group. She verified that she'd cast the spell correctly and that it had properly taken hold by casting the second half of the spell. She sighed and relaxed a bit before she cast it over the other three members of the group; checking to make certain the spell was working on each person before she finally put both book and wand away.

"What was that all about?" Killua demanded once Azalea had finished.

"So I can find you if you don't show at the agreed upon location when the time comes."

"Good idea. When and where are we going to meet?" Gon asked.

"We shouldn't talk about that on the boat," Kurapika quickly pointed out. "We'll all be getting off within minutes of each other; we can simply gather off to one side just out of sight and make our plans out of sight of the others."

"Number twelve!"

"See you in a bit," Killua stated as he headed towards the gangplank as his number was called.

Two minutes later, Azalea shoved Kurapika forward when their number was called only for the woman monitoring their departure to tell them both to leave. Kurapika laughed and dragged Azalea along behind him while the witch pouted in response to her chance at getting even being undermined. Then again, the way Kurapika was holding Azalea's hand in his (their fingers laced together) felt rather nice; though Azalea could have done without being dragged along as she cursed her short legs.

"You're spending too much time with Gon; you're picking up his bad habits," Azalea groused as the two of them slipped into the woods and found Killua waiting for them in the fork of a tree twenty yards to the left of the path.

"Would you prefer that I carry you again?" Kurapika teased lightly.

"Only if you're going to carry me too," Killua fired down at them.

"How about I hang you upside down by your feet instead?" Azalea offered with a snort. "And if they make us run again; I just might take you up on that offer, Kura."

"What offer?" Gon asked as he trotted up to them; the twelve year old had followed the familiar scent of blood that was clinging to Azalea's cloak from when she'd bitten her lip earlier. "And did you know you were bleeding again, James?"

"Yes, I bit my lip earlier."

Azalea brought out her wand and checked the immediate area to make certain no one else was hovering nearby. The moment she knew the area was clear; she set up a privacy ward while the others kept watch for Leorio as the older teen should be joining them in another minute or so. Once he joined them, they spent fifteen minutes debating on when and where they should meet, with Gon and Killua climbing to the top of the tree to locate a landmark that would be easy to find from anywhere on the island.

Gon, Killua, and Leorio promptly left once a decision had been reached while Azalea dug into her book bag for her broom and Kurapika hung back to watch her. The witch was going to fly to their designated meeting place to secure a base camp for them so they would have a safe place to rest if any of them got hurt while attempting to capture their target's badge. Tying the other four into the wards was as easy as her smearing a bit of her blood on their badges; which she'd done before the other three had left by opening up the cut on her lip again before she healed it properly with a drop of Dittany Essence.

"James?"

"Hmm…?" Azalea hummed to let the blond know she was listening even as she shifted things around so she could find her disillusioned broom.

"About what you said earlier… about having a death sentence hanging over your head…"

Azalea glanced up sharply over the topic and grew wary as she noted the serious expression that the taller teen was wearing on his face. She let her hands fall away from her book bag and it swung back into place against her hip as she hesitantly asked, "What about it?"

"I'd much rather you not try to protect my feelings by keeping your answer to yourself. If there is any chance that you were interested in what I was offering, then I want to know," Kurapika stated as he slowly closed the distance between them. "Because if you die without telling me, then I will forever wonder if I foolishly wasted what little time I could have had with you and that would hurt me far more than you simply telling me you are not interested."

"I hadn't considered that… but wait… does that mean that you…?"

"That I what?" Kurapika asked as he stopped right in front of Azalea so that the witch had to tip her head back to maintain eye contact with the taller teen.

"That you want…?" Azalea asked uncertainly as she gestured between the two of them. "That you are interested…?"

"I am."

Azalea swallowed thickly as those two words weighed almost as heavily upon her as the prophecy. They also added a whole new dimension to the circular arguments she'd been having with herself over whether or not she actually liked Kurapika in that way. After all, she'd been trying to convince herself that there was no way the blond could be interested in her that way because he thought she was a boy. The idea that he _was_ interested in her (despite thinking her a boy) was almost frightening.

"You'll have five days to decide whether or not that makes a difference in how you answer my question," Kurapika declared after allowing the silence to drag out for several minutes. "In the mean time, you'd best not get yourself killed on this stupid island."

The blond then reached out to place his hand on the back of Azalea's neck as he leaned down and brushed his lips briefly against Azalea's and Azalea gasped softly in surprise over the unexpected kiss. She floundered for several seconds as she stared into the brown eyes that were sitting mere centimeters away from her own; completely unsure what to think or how she should feel. A second fleeting kiss brought her train of thought to a grinding halt when her eyes closed of their own accord as she drew in a shaky breath. The older teen took immediate advantage of Azalea's slightly parted lips and Azalea let out a soft moan as Kurapika claimed her mouth in that moment for a proper kiss.

It was, in fact, her first ever kiss; the witch had avoided all the attentions of her fellow students because she didn't trust them to be interested in her for any reasons other than her fame and fortune.

Azalea reached out and tangled her fingers in Kurapika's tabard when the older teen deepened the kiss and slid his other hand around Azalea's back before he pulled the witch flush against his body. Azalea let out another soft moan as the sensation of Kurapika's body being pressed up against hers once again sent a pleasant wave of heat rushing through her. She felt fingers tangling in the hair at the back of her neck as the kiss went from exploratory to demanding in the span of a single heartbeat and Azalea unconsciously moved her hands down to rest lightly on Kurapika's waist as she leaned into the heat radiating from the blond.

The sixteen year old let out a small whine of protest when Kurapika ended the kiss a moment later. A small pout formed on Azalea's lips when the taller teen let out a soft laugh in response to Azalea's protest but before she could open her eyes or voice a complaint, Kurapika's lips returned to hers. She let out a small hum of satisfaction that soon turned into a moan of pleasure as her mouth was plundered for a second time while the molten heat of an unfamiliar emotion pooled in her belly.

There was no time to voice a second protest when Kurapika's mouth left hers a second time as the line of fiery kisses the older teen trailed along her jaw drew her full attention. The hand buried in the hair at the back of her neck gently pulled Azalea's head backwards to expose her neck enough that Kurapika could continue the trail of kisses down the side of her neck. Azalea began trembling and she let out a long low moan as those lips stopped in the hollow at the base of her neck where they began to nip and suckle at the sensitive spot.

A seeming eternity later, Kurapika's mouth returned to reclaim Azalea's mouth in a final kiss that was as tender as the first two were passionate. When he withdrew completely, Azalea was left trembling and panting beneath the flood of foreign emotions that had been stirred by those kisses. It took her several minutes to regain her bearings and when she finally opened her eyes, she found herself once again looking into Kurapika's eyes. She searched for answers in the teen's eyes for a moment before she dropped her gaze down to Kurapika's mouth as the memory of everything those lips had made her feel flittered through her mind.

Azalea then glanced back up to meet Kurapika's eyes briefly before returning her gaze to his mouth as she tentatively reached up to hesitantly brush her lips against the older boy's lips and with that one kiss, Azalea revealed to the older teen just how inexperienced she was when it came to kissing (and any other form of intimacy). The two rather tentative kisses that followed only reinforced her lack of experience to both of them as Azalea realized that she didn't really know what she was doing beyond the knowledge that a kiss usually involved a meeting of lips. She didn't have a single clue of how to go from that fleeting touch of her mouth against the teen's mouth to the all consuming ravishing kisses that Kurapika had given her.

She wondered if that meant there was something wrong with her as she pulled back and caught her bottom lip between her teeth as she stared at Kurapika's mouth for a moment before looking up to meet the older boy's gaze once more. The amusement she could see in those brown eyes didn't help as she thought it meant that the seventeen year old was laughing at her rather than him seeing her uncertainty as adorable (the witch rarely ever allowed others see her when she was feeling insecure least they think of her as being weak).

Groaning softly in confusion and self recrimination, Azalea dropped her face against Kurapika's chest to hide her inner turmoil. She tensed a bit when the hand on her back began running up and down her spine but she didn't pull away. Fingers massaging the back of her head pulled an involuntary humming purr from her followed by a soft rumbling laugh from Kurapika that Azalea felt more than she heard with her face pressed up against the blond's chest as it was. Azalea let out soft growl of irritation that only drew more laughter.

"You are such an adorable little kitten," Kurapika softly declared as he set his chin on Azalea's head.

"Don't make me hex you in tender places," Azalea muttered into the teen's chest.

"As fun as that sounds; I really should start looking for my target."

"Huh? Target?"

"Do the words Fourth Phase and Hunter's Exam ring any bells," Kurapika asked with another laugh.

"Oh, damn; I completely forgot," Azalea exclaimed as she sprang free of Kurapika's arms and began searching the clearing for her book bag; completely forgetting that it was already slung over her shoulder. Kurapika snorted and ended her slightly frantic search by snagging the book bag off her arm. Azalea blinked at the bag in confusion before she glanced up at Kurapika when the teen tucked it under his arm for a moment.

"Five days, kitten," Kurapika reminded the witch once he had her complete attention. "In five days, I fully expect you to be ready to discuss what is going on between us. I don't expect you to have all the answers you need or want but I do expect you to have given the matter some consideration because where we go from here will affect what happens once the Exam is over."

The blond then set Azalea's book bag in her arms and stole one last kiss before he was gone. Azalea stared off in the direction Kurapika had vanished in as she reached up and ran her fingers over her lips. She then shook herself out of her stupor as she summoned her broom from inside of her bag, ended the old Disillusionment Charm so she could cast a new one, cast the same spell over herself, dropped the privacy wards she'd set, and shot up into the air. She hovered there for several minutes lost in thought before she turned her broom around and headed for the large rocky outcrop that would mark the general location of their base camp.

The feel of the cool wind rushing over her still rather overheated body helped clear Azalea's mind and she temporarily shoved all thoughts of blondes and kisses out of her mind as she focused her attention on her current task and the Fourth Phase of the Hunter's Exam. She reached her destination a short while later and spent several minutes searching the area for other humans, dangerous animals, and potential hazards. Once she was certain that it was safe, she scoured the area for a good place to set up camp. It took her a little while but eventually she found a small clearing about twelve meters away from the rocky outcrop that was more than big enough to hold her tent.

She checked the area one last time to see if anyone had snuck up on her while she'd been searching before she dropped down and cast a temporary Muggle Repelling Ward around her chosen camp. She then dug out her camping supplies; which included a standard set of pre-carved ward stones designed to protect and hide a temporary camp from predators, natural disasters, and unwanted intruders of the two-legged variety. All she had to do was set the four stones up in the cardinal directions at the edge of her camp and activate them using her blood; which would also key the wards to her and make it so that only those who were related to her or carrying a talisman with her blood on it could pass through the wards.

Once the wards were set, Azalea dropped the Repelling Charm and used three spells she'd learned in Herbology to loosen the soil, remove any rocks, dig a fire pit, and level out the dirt where she planned to set up the tent. The tent went up next before she summoned enough fist sized rocks to ring the small fire pit. A quick peek inside of the tent had her opening up all the doors and windows so that it could air out because it smelled like dirty socks. At least it was otherwise clean and free from pests and it wouldn't take long for the smell to dissipate now that there was a breeze flowing through the interior.

And just like that, the camp was set and secure.

Now she had five days in which to locate and steal her target's tag and eliminate the more dangerous competition. Five days in which to torment herself over her worries about what was happening back in England. Five days in which she would be alone with the knowledge that the fate of thousands of people were resting on her shoulders. Five days in which to figure out what the hell to do about Kurapika. And five days in which she'd have to relive those fiery kisses while her thoughts ran themselves to death in endless circles.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" Azalea asked aloud as she dropped down on the ground beside the fire pit and threw herself backwards to stare up at the sky. "I'm here to earn my Hunter's License; not audition for the leading roll in a ruddy soap opera."

As if to mock her proclamation, Azalea's mind played back every single second of the handful of kisses she'd shared with the seventeen year old; kisses that she'd enjoyed far more than she cared to admit. Kurapika's kisses had made her feel alive in a way she'd never dreamed possible. Not even flying could come close to matching the level of exhilaration she'd felt in those kisses and there was a time when Azalea believed that nothing could compete with the thrill of flying.

Azalea let out a frustrated sigh as she closed her eyes and let the fingers of her right hand reach up trace her lips. The more she thought about what had happened, the more she wished that moment had never ended. Yet, at the same time, she wished it had never happened because the memory of it kept taunting her. She could still feel the way Kurapika's mouth had moved against hers, the way Kurapika's tongue had teased and coaxed hers into dueling, and the way Kurapika's firm body had felt plastered against her own.

She'd felt on fire at the time.

Nothing else had mattered beyond what Kurapika had been doing to her with his mouth and hands.

Azalea let out a strangled groan as she rolled over and pressed her face into the ground. She was never going to get anything done if she couldn't even stay focused for more five minutes at a time. After another minute, Azalea pushed herself up off the ground and walked out of the hidden camp as she hunted for a place she could practice her spell casting. If she couldn't reason her way out of her current predicament, then she'd blast her way out of it by burning off the excess energy.

Thirteen minutes later, Azalea was standing in the middle of a ring of rocks and trees in a small clearing some five miles away from her camp. She'd set up temporary wards that would keep people from stumbling across her and affixed a series of conjured and transfigured targets all around her. After buttoning up her cloak, Azalea warmed up by casting a series of wandless Stinging Hexes at each of the targets. She then moved on to a combination wandless Levitation, Banishing, and Sticking Charms as she levitated pebbles from the ground, sent them flying, and made them stick to the targets.

She added wandless Freezing Spells and Summoning Charms to the spell chain next; making the pebbles fly this way and that as she froze the targets and smashed the ice with flying pebbles. She was covered in sweat by the time she switched to another wandless spell chain that utilized the Banishing and Summoning Charms in combination with the Blasting Curse, Petrification Jinx, and Tripping Hex roughly forty minutes later. All around her the tiny pebbles exploded, dropped in mid-flight, or flew off course as she spun in a compact circle.

When she ran out of thumbnail sized pebbles to destroy, Azalea pulled out her wand and practiced the Stunning Spell, the Disarming Charm, a more powerful Blasting Curse, and a Shield Charm. The Stunning Spells and Disarming Charms splashed harmlessly against the transfigured targets while the Blasting Curses were used on fist and foot sized rocks scattered about and the Shielding Charms were used to protect herself from the shattered rocks. Her breathing was labored as she pushed herself further than she had during the Third Phase (the sixteen year old no longer exhausted from a lack of sleep or plagued with pain from Voldemort's interference as she had been prior to entering the prison tower).

The trees, rocks, and transfigured targets eventually fell beneath Azalea's wanded Blasting Curses as she worked on her speed, timing, accuracy, and agility; her body nimbly twisting right and left as she aimed at a sequence of targets that sat on opposite sides of the clearing from each other. When the last rock exploded, Azalea lowered her wand and stared at the destruction she'd surrounded herself with over the course of several hours before she calmly began putting out the flames licking at the remains of the trees. The rock shards and jagged chunks of wood were swept off to one side to be used another time and the smaller shattered remains of the trees collected so that they could be used as firewood.

Once she'd cleaned up the clearing as best she could, Azalea dropped her wards and headed back to camp. If she'd been thinking clearer, Azalea might have worried about her destructive activities drawing the attention of all twenty-seven of the other applicants on the island; her wards had failed to hide the smoke from the explosions or the tremors caused by the large scale destruction (specifically the crashing of falling trees). As it was, Azalea hadn't thought any further than truly letting lose with her spell casting in a way she'd not done in over seven months and driving her confusion into the ground.

Azalea slipped through the wards protecting the camp an hour later and made a bee-line for the tent and the shower. She scooped up her book bag from where she'd left it sitting beside the empty fire pit on her way across the camp before she vanished inside the magical contraption that was her tent. She dropped her bag on the bed and quickly stripped out of her sweat soaked clothes before tossing them in the magical hamper that had come with the tent. After a brief moment's consideration, she dug out the rest of her dirty clothes from her book bag and tossed those into the hamper as well before shutting the lid to start the cleaning process.

Grabbing a clean pair of pants and underwear, Azalea slipped into the bathroom and turned on the water to the shower as she dug out soap, shampoo, conditioner, a face cloth, and a couple of clean towels from the cabinets. She then stepped beneath the hot water and moaned softly in pleasure as the water sluiced down over her filthy body. She just stood there enjoying the soothing heat for close to twenty minutes before she soaked her hair and scrubbed it clean. She then washed her hair a second time to make certain she got all of the dirt out before she conditioned it. While the conditioner sat, she grabbed the bar of soap and washed the rest of her body before she rinsed herself off.

The last thing she did before she shut off the water was to wash and rinse the shower walls to make certain she didn't leave any dirt or soap scum on them (a habit born from years of living with the Dursleys). She stepped out of the shower two minutes later as she hummed God Rest Ye Merry Hippogriffs while she toweled herself dry before she pulled on her underwear, rebound her breasts, and got dressed in clean pants and a shirt.

She used the second towel to dry her hair as she stepped back into the bedroom and reclaimed her now clean, dry, and folded clothes from the hamper so they could be returned them to her book bag. At the same time, she grabbed herself a roll of parchment, a quill, ink bottle, a book to read, and an apple to munch on. Her wand was then tucked into the back pocket of her pants even as Moody's voice admonished her for endangering her buttocks within in her mind.

Dropping down onto the couch in the living room, Azalea pulled the coffee table closer and used her book and the ink bottle to hold the parchment flat as she drew twenty-eight circles to represent the twenty-eight applicants that had passed Phase Three. She then began filling the circles in with the names and numbers that she recalled; starting with those of herself and her four companions. Right below their five names, she placed the names (if known) and numbers of each of their targets right below each person. She then added the rest of the names and numbers she knew – though most of the circles were left blank since she hadn't really paid all that close attention to any of the other contestants.

Azalea stared at the mostly blank chart for a long minute before she summoned her badge from the bedroom. She then stuck her head out of the tent for a minute and summoned twenty-three rocks that weighed roughly the same amount as her badge. The next three hours were then spent carefully transfiguring the rocks into perfect blank copies of her badge that she could use to switch out with the actual badges of the other applicants. It probably wouldn't have taken her quite that long if she hadn't tired herself out with her destructive training session but the mind numbing casting session had at least enabled her keep her mind off her troubled thoughts.

The sixteen year old would fall asleep on the couch not long after she finished the badges. Her dreams that night bounced between bloody nightmares of what she feared was happening back in England and vague erotic fantasies involving a certain seventeen year old blond with vibrant scarlet eyes.

She was up bright and early the next morning and after a small breakfast of buttered bread, a peach, and two Chocolate Frogs, she spent the day practicing Switching Spells using the blank badges she'd made. She did that by hiding half of the magically created badges all around her camp and then switching them out several times using the remainder of the badges until she could easily pull off the switch without needing to know exactly where the badge was hiding. She then kept practicing until she could pull off the spell both wandlessly and wordlessly.

The sun was setting by the time Azalea was satisfied with her control and the last thing she did before heading inside to make herself a light supper was to check the locations of her scattered companions. She wasn't really surprised to find that they had ended up fairly scattered over the island but she was surprised to find herself a bit disappointed that none of them were close to camp. If that disappointment mostly revolved around a certain blond, well, the witch wasn't about to admit it to herself let alone out loud to another.

Dawn of the fourth day on Zevil Island found Azalea skimming invisibly through the sky over the island on her broom as she hunted for her target for the second day in a row. She'd already collected the badges of numbers one-sixty-seven and two-twenty-two, both of which she'd netted the first time she'd gone out searching the previous day when the two men had come to investigate the destruction Azalea had done on the first day and attempted to ambush her when she stepped outside of her warded camp. It wasn't until near lunch time of the fourth day, that she finally managed to track down and snag number eighty-nine (after she'd stolen two additional badges from another pair that had been stalking each other).

Azalea dropped down in the forest near a towering oak shortly after that and nearly lost an eye as she was unexpectedly attacked by a trio of bowtruckles; the overly large oak turning out to be a magical tree under the protection of the small, distrustful creatures.

She quickly placated the defensive little guys with an offering of woodlice that she'd summoned from the surrounding forest. She then spent two hours propped up against the trunk of the ancient powerful tree as the three critters clambered over her and stole bits of the fruit she had taken out for her lunch as well as begging for more lice. The only reason she lingered as long as she had was because the creatures reminded her of Hogwarts and her friends as they were the first familiar magical creatures (not counting Hedwig) that she'd encountered since the end of her fifth year.

When she finally (and reluctantly) got up to leave, the bowtruckles gifted her with a branch from their tree that was almost as thick as her arm, just over six feet long, and far straighter than expected. Azalea thanked the critters with another bunch of woodlice as she tucked the heavy branch into her book bag. The rest of the afternoon was spent lazily hovering above the island as she lay on her back on her broom and finally allowed herself to think about the kisses she'd shared with Kurapika that first day. The fact that those kisses had haunted her dreams during the past handful of nights almost as often as Voldemort was a big part of the reason why she stopped trying to ignore the matter; that and she knew that there was only one day remaining before Kurapika and the others made their way to her camp.

It was as she watched the sun setting that evening, that Azalea finally admitted, that yes, she was very much attracted to the older teen and she wasn't quite certain how to deal with that revelation. She'd never really given much thought to relationships or love in general and had prided herself on not getting got up in things like that during the last three or four years (unlike her roommates). If she was honest with herself, she'd never really thought she'd ever need to worry about having a love life; her relatives had gone out of their way to brainwash her into believing that she was unlovable and unwanted and that no one could ever love her.

The wizarding world hadn't exactly erased that mental conditioning as they'd been in love with her name and her fortune and ignored her, as a person. They'd also been far too quick to turn on her the moment she did anything that didn't fit with their ideals and their self designed image of what she was supposed to be. The constant hot and cold attitudes of her peers had made socializing outside of the Weasleys and Horatio rather difficult which had further stunted her social and emotional growth.

All of the near death experiences she'd ended up in through the years had only made it harder for Azalea to relate to other people her age as none of them could really understand what she'd been through outside of Ron, Horatio, and Ginny but even they didn't fully understand (though Ginny could almost relate thanks to her experience with Riddle's diary in Azalea's second year).

Azalea could admit to herself, now, that her crush on Cedric had been more about trying to be normal and trying to fit in than it had been about actually looking for a boyfriend. He'd been handsome, he'd been a fellow Quidditch player, and he'd teasingly flirted with her during the few matches she played against Hufflepuff and she'd grabbed hold of the idea he represented with both hands. The fact that he already had a girlfriend that was both older and prettier than Azalea had been crushing and the disaster that had occurred at the end of the third task and resulted in said boy's death had only emphasized to Azalea that she was not and never would be normal.

Hearing the prophecy just hours after Sirius had died had killed any thoughts Azalea might have entertained about getting involved with another person. Or at least it had right up until she'd gotten caught up in a pair of certain scarlet eyes that burned like fire. The problem with the entire situation was that her unexpected feelings for Kurapika didn't change the fact that her fate had already been set in stone.

The prophecy made certain of that.

The frustration and fear she'd felt during that moment on the boat ride over when she'd finally understood the full magnitude of what the prophecy meant for her, for the Dark Lord, and for the wizarding world returned threefold in that instant. Sitting up, Azalea threw back her head and let out the scream of pure frustration and rage that had been festering inside of her since that moment. When the sound of that first scream died, she let out a second scream and this time her magic surged up to carry the scream for miles as she lost herself completely in the negative emotions she was feeling.

She never noticed the bindings that had been placed upon her and her abilities snapping in that moment; the long months of wandless casting she'd been practicing had weakened the spells that had locked away a good portion of her potential. Nor did she notice her scar ripping open as the backlash of her magic snapping its bindings crossed the link she shared with the Dark Lord and stirred Voldemort's anger for the first time in days as her magic caused him pain.

When her second scream finally trailed off, Azalea wept as grief and resignation took the place of the fear and anger. She had no idea how long she sat there with the cold night air chilling her tears as they steadily tracked down her cheeks but when she finally regained control of her emotions, the moon had long since risen and Zevil Island had been washed in darkness. Weary and emotionally drained, Azalea turned and made her way back to her camp.

If she'd been paying any attention to her surroundings, she'd have noticed a large number of people converging in the forest directly beneath where she'd been hovering when she'd screamed; friends and opponents alike had been drawn to the area by the sound of her voice like flies to honey.

That night, Azalea slept out underneath the stars beside the small fire she'd lit after spending several hours talking to Sirius as she stared up at the Dog Star. Her sleep that night would for once be undisturbed by nightmares and fantasies alike as the part of her that had been freed from the bindings integrated itself into her magic and soul where it belonged.

Thousands of miles from where Azalea slept, inside of a rather magical castle that doubled as a school, a weary bearded wizard regretfully placed yet another memory into a crystal vial with a heavy heart as he tried not to think of how many mistakes he'd made over his lifetime. A dozen other similarly filled vials were already tucked inside of a charmed cedar box along with an old pensieve, a ruby encrusted sword, a golden snitch holding a gold ring with a cracked stone, what looked like a silver lighter, and a well worn copy of _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_. His blackened right arm throbbed painfully as the curse that was slowly killing him traveled just a little higher and destroyed just a little more of his arm.

Several floors below the bearded wizard, another wizard with long greasy locks stirred a tiny cauldron containing a golden liquid with utmost concentration. Six other cauldrons, each containing a different potion, sat cooling off to one side while several sealed vials were tucked into a simple satchel. Tacked to the wall behind the lab bench above the station that the man was working at, there was a much worn non-magical photograph of a smiling fourteen year old witch with vibrant green eyes and long hair the color of freshly spilled blood.

Far to the south of the castle where the two wizards worked at their self assigned tasks, another pair of younger wizards with identical red hair and freckles, watched over an exhausted snowy owl that had arrived two days earlier in between their efforts of putting together a specialized care package and writing a coded letter that was already two feet long. A dozen gaily wrapped presents, nearly a hundred sealed letters written by several different hands, a box of homemade treats, and several newspaper clippings sat nearby; waiting to be added to the charmed box that the twins were diligently packing.

Hidden in a run down mansion on the outskirts of a small town, near a small private graveyard; a pale bald monster wearing the guise of a man with serpentine features stroked the scales of an unnaturally intelligent viper and sat scowling at the quivering lump on the floor at his feet. A glint of silver reflected in the moonlight as the shivering lump shifted and whimpered before falling still while twelve silent shadows wearing bone white masks nervously shifted in fear of being subjected to their master's wraith. Furious red eyes flashed angrily as the inhuman Dark Lord sought to ignore the pain he'd experienced through the bond he shared with the annoying witch whose death he'd been obsessively seeking for close to fifteen years now.

Unaware of the turmoil a number of those she'd left behind were feeling, Azalea slept on through the night.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>_Lots going on in this chapter, starting with the sparks flying between Azalea and Kurapika. Does it seem a bit rushed? Yep. It is, to a point. Poor Azalea, I didn't prepare her for a determined and driven Kurapika. And while it seems like Kurapika is completely ignoring his vows to avenge his clan, he isn't but it will still be a while before you get to see his insight into the matter. At least another three or four chapters. I think. That's all I'm going to say about that. _

_Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, the next one will wrap up the Fourth Phase. ~ Jenn  
><em>


	13. Traps x and x Torment

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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><p><span>Chapter Thirteen: Traps x and x Torment<span>

'_Bite me and I will tack your tail to a tree and leave you for the crows to find,_' Azalea hissed out in parseltongue to the venomous snake that she had sensed sliding up behind her and poising itself to strike her unprotected neck while pausing between bites of the pear she'd been eating as she sat beneath the rocky outcrop outside of her camp around lunchtime on the fifth day of the Fourth Phase.

'_You speak?_' the rather drab viper asked in surprise as it dropped docilely back to the ground and slithered around to where Azalea could see it.

'_Yes. Why were you going to attack me? I know that I didn't disturb you._'

'_The Binder of Serpents has ordered me to kill you and bring him the flat white not-mouse that you wear upon your not-skin._'

'_Ah. I had wondered who had drawn my number as a target. I will not allow you to bite me but I can give you the badge to take._'

'_I have no choice but to do as I am commanded, Speaker; the Binder has ordered your death and I am bound to obey._'

'_What do you mean you are bound?_' Azalea asked with a frown as she stared down at the snake.

'_The Binder of Serpents has used his life force to tie us to his will and we can not disobey him. I do not wish to kill you for you are a treasured Speaker but I can not disobey his will; only stall the inevitable._'

'_What would it take to set you free?_'

'_His spell must be shed from my mind like an old skin._'

'_I can set you free if you promise not to bite me or any other humans you encounter; unless they seek to harm you first._'

'_Could you free the others as well? They can not leave the burrow to hunt so long as they are bound to the Binder's will and it is unnatural for so many of us to gather in one place during the feeding months._'

'_If you lead me to them, I can free them as well._'

'_Then you have my word that I will not harm any two-legged one that does not harm me first._'

Azalea nodded and balanced her half-eaten pear on her knee before picking up the snake and pulling out her wand. She cast a detection charm to determine what kind of magic had been used to entrap the snake and she scowled when she found something similar to a Compulsion Charm and an Instinct Suppression Charm tied to the snake's mind with a Binding Charm. The only reason she wasn't dead was because the shock of being faced with a parselmouth had freed a small portion of the snake's will.

A simple Cancellation Spell unraveled all three spells and left Azalea frowning as her magic had felt off while casting both spells. The snake shivered and writhed for a moment before it sighed in relief and promptly slipped beneath Azalea's dragon-hide cloak to warm itself.

'_Thank you, Speaker; I am in your debt. I will show you where the others are bound once I have warmed my scales. I spent far too many nights hunting for you when I should have been curled up on the sun warmed rocks._'

'_Fair enough; just let me know when you are ready to leave._'

Azalea had more than enough time to finish her pear, check the current locations of her absent companions (again noting the off feeling of her magic), and write a note for Killua (who'd been steadily moving in her direction all morning) that she tacked to the outside of the tent before the snake announced that it was sufficiently warm enough to lead her to the others. Azalea then slung her book bag over her shoulder and set out on foot as the snake led her away from the camp. She made certain to scan her surroundings every ten to fifteen minutes in order to make certain that she wasn't being followed or that she wasn't about to stumble upon someone unexpectedly (testing her magic with each spell she cast in an effort to figure out why it was behaving oddly).

After she'd been walking for a few hours, Azalea checked on the others again and felt a flash of worry when she noted that Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika appeared to be traveling together in the same direction that the snake was leading Azalea. Killua, on the other hand, had reached the camp and Azalea hoped the twelve year old wouldn't get into trouble but suspected the kid would ignore Azalea's instructions not to mess with anything. The kid grew bored rather easily and a tent full of magical artifacts would be highly tempting after all.

The sun was just about touching the horizon when Azalea stepped into the clearing where a large tunnel led down into the underground cavern where the snakes had been bound against their will. She frowned when she found the clearing empty as she'd expected her remaining three companions to be in the area since this was the location where the Locator Spell had last placed them. She paled a bit when she realized that there was a good possibility that they'd entered the Snake Charmer's trap and she quickly cast Homenum Revelio and cursed when it indicated that there were four people several yards down and to the left of where she was standing.

Growling, Azalea dashed into the tunnel with her wand at the ready as she prayed that the others hadn't been bitten by any of the bewitched vipers. She burst into the cavern just as Kurapika approached the Snake Charmer that was sitting up against the wall at the back of the cavern; barely registering the fact that there was one more person in the room than there should have been. Azalea's heart rose up in her chest as she saw close to two hundred snakes preparing to attack as they dropped down out of the crevices in the back of the wall and the ceiling the blond when he reached out to touch the Snake Charmer.

'_Stop! Back off now!_' Azalea hissed angrily in parseltongue as she leapt over Gon and Leorio so she could grab hold of Kurapika's arm and yank him back away from the potentially deadly fangs of the snakes that had been protecting the Charmer. '_Stand down and stay back!_'

"James?" Gon and Kurapika both cried out in shock.

"Shit, what the hell are you doing here!?" Kurapika demanded a heart beat later as he grabbed hold of the witch and shook her a bit. "How could you stupidly run down here!? Now you're stuck here as well! And do you have any idea how close you came to getting bit just now!? It's bad enough Leorio will die if we don't get him to a doctor soon, do you have any idea what it would do to me if you ended up in the same predicament!?"

"Nice to see you too, Kura," Azalea dryly greeted as she began making certain that the blond hadn't been bit. "If I had known I'd be required to perform my Knight in Shining Armor duties today, I'd have worn my silver armor and brought you a dress to wear since you seem to be playing the part of the damsel in distress so well right now."

"This is no laughing matter, James! This place was a trap and there's no way out," Kurapika hissed as he shook Azalea again before pulling her up against his chest. "I told you that you're not allowed to die here."

"Don't make me hex you in tender places," Azalea retorted as she poked Kurapika in the side to get the blond to loosen his hold. "I'm here to save your bacon because the three of you stupidly walked into the Snake Charmer's trap."

"Wait, you knew this was a trap and came barging in here anyway?"

"Can the two of you stop arguing? Leorio's getting worse," Gon cut in before Azalea could reply to Kurapika's angry question.

"Let me go, Kura," Azalea murmured as she pushed away from the blond and reached for her book bag.

She then dug out her Home Healer's Kit and fished out a bezoar as she hurried over to Leorio. With Gon's help, she sat the taller teen up and shoved the small red stone into his mouth and ordered the man to swallow it before she dug out a bottle of water and told Gon to make certain Leorio drank the entire bottle. The bezoar wouldn't cure the teen but it would prevent him from dying due to the amount of venom he'd been injected with based upon the number of bandaged wrapped bites that she could see peeking out from under Leorio's shirt as it would reduce the toxicity level of the venom running through his veins.

"That should help counter the toxin in the snake venom but it's not a cure. It will be enough to buy him time though."

"How did you know about the trap?" Gon asked once Azalea had finished treating Leorio.

"A little snake told me," Azalea replied absently as she frowned at the man propped up against the wall before she glanced at the woman seated off to one side watching her intently. She then returned her gaze to the Snake Charmer as she tried to figure out what was wrong with the man.

"He's dead," Kurapika stated when he noticed Azalea intently studying the man.

"Good," Azalea replied curtly. "Saves me the hassle of threatening him for what he did to the snakes. That also explains why my count was off by one; dead bodies don't register as human any longer."

"It would have been better if he was still alive because he could have called off his trained pets so we could leave," the woman countered.

"The snakes were not his pets and snakes can't be trained," Azalea countered dismissively. "They can be enticed and entranced but they can not be trained; especially not to the extent where they'd go against their very natures to crowd into an underground cave and attack anyone that tries to leave. These snakes have been bound against their will and they would have starved to death eventually because of that man's arrogance in forcing them to do his dirty work."

'_Speaker…_' a particularly large specimen hissed as it slid across the floor to wrap around Azalea's leg.

'_Yes?_'

'_The one that reeks of your scent told us that you came to set us free; is this true?_'

'_Yes._'

"I didn't know you could speak to snakes, James," Gon exclaimed with excitement. "Can you speak to other animals too? Like owls? Is that how you trained Hedwig? I can understand most animals but snakes never stuck around long enough to talk to me before so I never learned to understand more than a word or two of snake."

"No, it's only snakes that I can speak to and I didn't train Hedwig; she was already trained when I got her," Azalea replied as she watched hundreds of snakes start filling up the room in response to her conversation with the large viper still coiled around her leg. "Please hold any other questions you have and try not to make any sudden moves; the snakes are not exactly happy right now and they are impatiently waiting for me to free them from the spell they are under."

The witch then carefully threaded her way closer to the unfamiliar woman before she hit her with a Stunning Spell. The moment she fell unconscious, hundreds of bees flew out of her hat and attacked Azalea and she cursed loudly as they stung her a dozen times before she banished them into the wall with a wave of her wand; the impact hard enough to crush all of the ones that had not died upon losing their stingers. She scowled at the dead bees while thanking the fluke that had seen her buying a dragon-hide cloak as it had protected her arms and chest from the stingers even if her face, neck, and hands had been left wide open.

"I hate bees," Azalea grumbled as she glanced at the swelling knots on the back of her wand hand where three stingers had been embedded in her flesh.

"How many times were you stung, James?" Kurapika asked in concern.

"At least a dozen times but I'll deal with them later," Azalea replied as she eyed the unconscious woman in search of any sign that she was about to be attacked a second time before she moved up to crouch beside her in order to modify her memory of everything she'd seen her do or say since entering the cavern. She then turned away from her and addressed the snakes that were swarming around her, '_Is this all of you or are there more of you hiding in the walls?_'

'_We are all here, Speaker._'

Azalea nodded and tried to get a rough estimate of just how many snakes there were. She then closed her eyes to center herself in order to pull up a large enough amount of magic cancel the spells binding the snakes to a dead man's will all at the same time. (A precaution to prevent potential attacks in case the snakes had been ordered to attack another magic user attempting to free them.) She was a little surprised to find it far easier to draw upon her magic than it had been just days earlier (the witch still completely unaware of the bindings that had held her back previously).

In a matter of seconds, the diminutive witch was surrounded by a maelstrom of magic that tore her hat from her head, tugged at her dragon-hide cloak, and whipped her hair into a wilder mess than usual. When she opened her eyes a minute later, her irises had turned completely gold from the amount of magic that saturated her body. She cast the Cancellation Spell just seconds later and cried out in pain as the inordinately large amount of magic she'd been channeling through her wand unexpectedly overloaded the focus almost immediately; causing the wand to catch fire in her hand even as her spell washed over all of the snakes present and released them from the Snake Charmer's spells.

'_Thank you, Speaker; we shall not forget our debt to you,_' the large snake wrapped around her leg hissed as the snakes began leaving the cave in a flood now that they were no longer bound against their will.

The huge viper left seconds after it finished speaking and Azalea collapsed to her knees, dropped her still burning wand, and cradled her wounded hand against her belly as her magic quickly dissipated now that she no longer needed it. Ice cold fear washed over the sixteen year old as she stared at the smoldering remains of her holly wand and tears pricked the back of her eyes as she watched the wand crumble apart as the last of the flames died. That wand had carried her through five years of schooling and saved her life more than once and it felt like some part of her had died as she watched it being destroyed.

She let out a strangled whine when she realized she was now virtually defenseless due to the loss before she blanched at the realization that whatever protection that wand had offered her against Voldemort's wand (because of the connection their wands shared) was also gone.

"No… no, no, no… _no, no, no,_" Azalea begged as she stared at the charred pieces of her ruined wand in horror as her tears broke free and poured down her face. "No, this can't be happening. This isn't happening… it's not real… this has to be another nightmare… don't let this be real… Merlin but this can't be happening… not real, not real, it's not real…"

"James…? James? _James?_ _**James**__!_"

Azalea never heard Kurapika trying to get her attention until the blond dropped down in front of her and lightly slapped her on the face. The older teen then crushed Azalea to him in a hug as he muttered, "Jesus, James, don't ever do that again! Are you alright? Did any of the snakes bite you?"

"I'm buggered," Azalea whispered hoarsely as she began trembling as shock set in. "I'm well and truly buggered. I'm so far buggered that it ain't even funny. No… I'm worse than buggered… I'm dead. I'm nothing but a walking target. I'm so dead."

"Shut up, James!" Kurapika hissed angrily as he leaned back to lightly slap her a second time to try and break her out of her panic attack.

"You don't understand! It's gone! My _wand_ is gone! I have nothing! A witch is _nothing_ without her wand and I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere with no way to protect myself because my _wand_ just burnt itself up!"

"So all of your magic was tucked up in that little twig?" Leorio asked from where he'd been leaning against Gon, the taller teen having recovered some of his strength thanks to the bezoar.

"No, the magic is inside of the witch or wizard but it takes a wand to draw it out."

"You never used your wand during the game with Mr. Netero," Gon pointed out. "You haven't really used your wand that much at all since the Exam started."

"That's different; the spells I was casting wandlessly might as well have been parlor tricks for all the good they'd do me in a real fight. Without my wand the number of spells I can cast dropped from over two hundred and fifty to a whopping fifteen."

"Was that the only wand in existence?" Kurapika demanded as he gave her a little shake.

"Don't be daft, Kura, of course it wasn't the only wand; all witches and wizards get a wand once they start school."

"Then it can be replaced."

"No it can't. That one was special… I _needed_ that one. Even if I could replace it, there's the little matter of me being thousands of miles from the nearest wand shop. And this stupid exam still isn't over! How the hell am I supposed to pass if I can't even protect myself?"

"You can start by calming down," Kurapika dryly pointed out as he slipped an arm under Azalea's legs and picked her up off the floor before climbing to his feet. "Panicking isn't going to do you any good. As for protection, we're not about to send you off on your own just because you're currently limited with what you can do and you have other skills that can be developed. Now, were you or were you not bit by any of the snakes? And how badly was your hand burned after your wand caught fire?"

"No, I wasn't bit; the snakes were just happy to be freed from the spells the Snake Charmer had used to force them to do his bidding. And I don't know how bad my hand is; all I know is that it bloody well hurts."

"Right, first things first; Gon, grab the badges from Bourbon and Ponzu and see if Bourbon has any antivenin on him so we can finish treating Leorio. Then we need to get out of here and find some place safe where we can tend to James's hand before we head towards the outcrop so we can meet back up with Killua."

Five minutes and a shot of antivenin later, Kurapika was carrying Azalea up out of the cavern (much to the witch's chagrin) while Gon helped Leorio who was still a bit weak. Night had fallen by the time they exited the tunnel and after a brief debate, the four of them chose to put a few miles between them and the underground cave in order to avoid dealing with the woman if she happened to regain consciousness any time soon.

"I can walk, you know," Azalea pointed out several minutes later when it became clear that Kurapika had no intention of putting her down any time soon.

"Don't care," Kurapika retorted in a clipped tone. Azalea huffed and crossed her arms as she tried not to think about what had happened down in the cavern. A few minutes later, Kurapika broke the silence as he quietly demanded, "Who attacked you yesterday and how badly were you hurt?"

"Huh? What are you talking about? What do you mean who attacked me?"

"I heard you scream. In fact, I'm pretty certain everyone within fifty miles of Zevil Island heard you scream."

"No one attacked me," Azalea wearily replied as she shivered a bit over the memory of losing control of her emotions the night before. "I was just feeling a little overwhelmed at the time."

"A little overwhelmed?" Kurapika repeated incredulously as he almost tripped over his feet. "Jesus, that's like saying there were only a few snakes in the cave just now! What the hell happened?"

"I spent most of yesterday afternoon just thinking."

"Thinking? You were just thinking…? About what? I mean what could you have possibly been thinking about that could have been so terrible that you had to scream like that?"

"Same thing I was thinking about on the way over when you thought I'd lied to you."

"Oh."

"I thought a lot about what you wanted me to think about too."

"And…?" Kurapika prompted as he stopped walking and glanced down to meet Azalea's emerald gaze.

"I still feel so confused and there's no point in pretending that I'm not frightened. I have no real experience to speak of when it comes to things like relationships and the one person I thought that I'd had a crush on two years ago was more about me desperately trying to be normal than it was about actually wanting to be with that person. I know I've never really felt comfortable over the prospect of dating but that was more because I could never be sure whether those pursuing me were interested in me as a person or if they were just interested in my status. I told myself that I didn't need or want a relationship and fully believed that would always be the case right up until you caught me off guard and left me floundering."

"You're babbling, kitten," Kurapika pointed out with a soft laugh as he resumed walking once more; a small smile playing about his lips.

Azalea huffed as a blush stole across her face both for being caught babbling and for the nickname. Her embarrassment didn't last for very long as her thoughts were inevitably drawn back to the unfair mess that was her life. Anger, despair, frustration, desperation, resignation, and fear warred with the tiny sliver of hope and determination that had carried her this far in her quest for strength and guidance.

After they'd gone another twenty yards, Azalea spoke up once more; her voice low and pained as she forced herself to make her position perfectly clear to the teen carrying her, "I hate it. I hate that I had to meet you now, of all times. Why? Why now? Why not a year ago when I still had hope that I could be just like any other teenager out there? Why not two years ago when I still believed that the good guys always win? Why couldn't I have met you when I was still ignorant of what has been expected of me from the moment I was marked by a madman? It's not fair."

"Life never is fair," Kurapika murmured as he slowed to a stop once more.

"You think I don't know that!? I've known that all my life!" Azalea ranted as she pushed away from the teen and ended up tumbling onto the ground because Kurapika hadn't expected her to push away. Scrambling up onto her feet, Azalea vented her frustration much as she had the summer before her fifth year after the fiasco with the dementors; her voice steadily rising as everything she'd been bottling up exploded out. "I'm sick to death of all the examples I've been given of just how unfair life is! I am utterly tired of always standing on the outside looking in while the rest of the damned world lives on without a goddamned care! And I am weary beyond belief of having to force myself to pretend that it doesn't matter! To smile when all I want to do is curl up in a ball and die because it hurts so much."

Azalea took several ragged breaths as her words hung in the air for a moment longer before they faded away. She then turned away from Kurapika as she continued in a much softer voice that was laced with pain and regret, "I could have gone the rest of my life happily never knowing just what I was missing. I knew what I was supposed to do and that was all I needed or wanted to know. A week ago, my life was simple and I had everything planned out; get my Hunter's License, find someone to train me, and then go home to end Voldemort's reign of terror."

"A week ago, there was nothing that would have stopped me from sacrificing myself if there was even the slightest of chances that doing so would save lives. A week ago, I was content to go through life by merely existing. A week ago, I had been convinced that I had accepted the fate that had been thrust upon me the night my parents sacrificed themselves for me. It was simple and straight forward and something I had always suspected deep down in my soul; kill or be killed. It's not that simple though and it never was; I just never realized that until recently."

"Now…? Now, I've had a taste of what I've been missing all my life. Now, I know what it feels like to be alive. Now, I have something I want. Now…? Now, I am trapped in a nightmare of my own making," Azalea wearily stated as she glanced back over her shoulder to where Kurapika was watching her with an unreadable look. "I hate knowing that no matter how much I might want to explore what it is that you are offering that I can't accept it because I will leave the moment I get what I need. And I might not even stay that long; depending on the answer Hedwig brings me when she finally returns."

"Why would knowing you have to leave stop you from accepting what I was offering?"

"Because I'm terrified that I won't be able to leave when the time comes for me to go if I let myself grow attached to whatever it is that draws me to you despite knowing that my staying would condemn thousands of innocents to a fate worse than death."

"So your answer is no?"

Azalea let her shoulders sag in defeat as she looked away from the older teen and slowly began walking towards where Gon and Leorio stood frozen in shock after having witnessed the entire drama unfolding. She avoided meeting their gaze and didn't bother stopping when she reached their side; she knew they'd either follow her or they'd split off and go their own way. She probably would have just continued right on walking all through the night if not for the pain in her right hand from when her wand had caught fire growing near unbearable.

Out of habit, she reached for her wand to scan the clearing she'd stumbled across into only to recall that she no longer had a wand. She felt so helpless in that moment that she didn't know whether to scream or cry. In the end, she simply sat down beside the nearest tree and leaned back against its trunk as she dug into her book bag for her Healer's Kit and a bottle of water. She spent a moment rinsing her hand off with the water before she carefully dried it on one of her spare shirts and attempted to wrap it with gauze.

"Are you trying to make your hand worse?" Kurapika demanded in a gruff voice as he walked up and slapped Azalea on the back of the head before taking the gauze from her while Gon and Leorio made and lit several torches that they stuck in the ground near the witch so they could use their light to inspect her injuries. "Jesus, James, why didn't you tell us your hand was that big of a mess!?"

"I didn't know," Azalea replied as she stared at the burns that covered her entire right hand; the witch nearly gagging as she stared at the charred bits of skin on her palm where the handle of her wand had been touching her skin when it caught fire.

"We're going to have to remove the charred bits of skin and flesh as well as the stingers; otherwise infection will set in and there's still roughly thirty-two hours before the Fourth Phase ends," Leorio stated as he examined the hand. "That's assuming that you aren't going to quit now to seek medical attention or due to the lack of a wand."

"I can't quit," Azalea tiredly insisted as she stared at her near ruined hand with morbid fascination; completely forgetting that she'd been contemplating quitting off and on since she'd had the vision of Remus's death.

"Do you still have those packs of Tylenol in your left pocket?" Kurapika asked as he moved out of Leorio's way.

"Yeah."

"Give him two full packs, Kurapika; there's too much nerve damage and if he isn't feeling the pain now, he will soon enough when I start washing his hand and removing the dead bits."

"Got it."

"What can I do to help?" Gon asked.

"I need you to make certain that no one sneaks up on us," Leorio instructed as he glanced at the twelve year old.

Azalea felt Kurapika place one hand on her chest just below her bound breasts while the other rummaged around in her pocket for the pain killers and Azalea couldn't help but shiver as she dropped her head back against the tree and closed her eyes. Both hands were gone just seconds later and she swallowed the disappointed whine she wanted to let out over the loss of contact even as she silently castigated herself for acting like a fool. She felt something press up against her lips and she automatically reached up to swat it away only for a hand to grab firm hold of her wrist.

"Open your mouth, James," Kurapika instructed as she opened her eyes to find the blond watching her with stern brown eyes as he held a pair of pain pills to her mouth.

After a slight hesitation, Azalea complied and tasted the bitterness of the chalky pills as they were pushed into her mouth and she was quick to swallow them if only to get rid of the taste. The process was repeated a second time and she let her eyes fall closed once more as she tried to ignore the bitter taste coating her tongue. Her attention was just drifting back to the throbbing pain she still felt in her hand when she felt something else pushed up against her mouth followed by a soft order to drink. Water splashed into her mouth the moment she did as instructed and she gladly swallowed the cool liquid to wash away the lingering bitterness from the pills.

"Kurapika, help me get him out of that jacket so the sleeve won't get in my way. And then I'm going to need you to hold him so that I can start cleaning his hand."

The words barely registered in Azalea's mind when she felt the slight tugging of her cloak being unbuttoned. She tried to help but had her hand pushed back out of the way twice before she gave up. She felt someone tugging on her left sleeve the moment the buttons had all been undone and she automatically pulled her arm out and leaned forward as the cloak was pulled off from around her back. Azalea made to lean back against the tree as the right sleeve was pulled free of her arm only to feel someone pushing her forward as they slipped behind her.

She made a single attempt to move away from the person as some small part of her registered who it was sitting so close to her but she was stopped by Leorio's hand on her shoulder. Azalea was then being pulled tightly up against Kurapika's chest as the blond wrapped his left arm around her stomach and his right hand firmly grabbed hold of Azalea's right elbow while the blond's legs bracketed Azalea's. There was no time for her to worry about the rather intimate position as the moment Kurapika uttered a firm 'ready,' pain exploded in her hand as Leorio began cutting away the blackened bits of skin and muscle tissue from her palm.

"Try to focus on something else, James; it will help you to ignore the pain," Kurapika's voice whispered into her ear as Azalea cried out sharply and instinctively struggled against the hands holding her so that she could escape the pain.

Azalea latched onto the suggestion and the distraction that the blond's voice offered as she raggedly demanded, "Why aren't you angry with me?"

"Why would I be angry?"

"The things I said… I basically just stomped all over your feelings and… and I threw your offer back in your face!"

"No, you didn't; you were venting your frustration and giving voice to your insecurities. You chose to walk away instead of actually telling me no after you freely admitted that you were as interested in me as I am in you. And you also forgot one very important thing."

"Huh? What do you…?"

"You forgot that you are not the only one who has obligations waiting for them on the other side of the Exam. Whether or not I get my Hunter's License, I will be leaving to continue my hunt for the Phantom Troupe; alone."

"I hadn't forgotten about that," Azalea countered around a hiss as Leorio moved to work on a particularly tender part of her palm before he turned her hand over to carefully scrap the three stingers out of her hand. "I just thought it would be crass of me to bring it up. I also didn't want to make it sound like I was using your desire to avenge your clan as an excuse."

"Silly, kitten, I told you before that you don't have to protect my feelings."

Azalea opened her mouth to reply only for her words to be forgotten in a rush of pain as Leorio started to wash her hand now that most of the dead skin and all of the stingers on that hand had been removed. Searing agony shot through her hand and up her arm and she fought against the hands holding her in an effort to escape the pain. Her magic lashed out in response to the pain a moment later and Leorio yelped as he was zapped by a jolt of electricity. Azalea dropped back against Kurapika and panted heavily as the pain she had been feeling dropped down to a persistent throbbing ache.

"Anyone ever tell you that you're a rather shocking person, James?" Leorio asked petulantly as he gingerly reclaimed Azalea's right wrist so that he could finish treating Azalea's wounds.

Azalea merely whimpered in response as she began wriggling against the hands holding her again as her memory of the pain prompted her to fight against the mere thought of feeling it a second time. She stopped squirming a heartbeat later as she was distracted by the unexpected feeling of Kurapika's lips being pressed to the back of her neck. She shivered a bit as the blond nuzzled her neck before pressing several more kisses to her skin and Azalea let out a whimpered moan as she unconsciously tilted her head to one side in an open invitation.

Heat washed through the witch as Kurapika didn't hesitate to take advantage of the opening offered as he gently nipped and suckled at the exposed side of Azalea's neck. The witch was so wrapped up in what the blond was doing to her with his mouth that she never even felt the sting of the antiseptic as Leorio finished cleaning her hand. By the time Leorio rinsed her hand off with cold water twice more and loosely wrapped it up in several layers of gauze, Azalea had relaxed enough that the double dose of pain medication she'd taken earlier finally knocked her out completely; leaving the older teen free to remove the rest of the stingers from her neck and face.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>_Blah, blah, blah...  
><em>


	14. Discussions x and x Desire

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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><p><span>Chapter Fourteen: Discussions x and x Desire<span>

Azalea wearily trudged through the wards protecting her camp two hours after noon the next day with Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika on her heels. She was a bit surprised to find the tent still standing when she'd fully expected Killua to have burned it down or something during the past twenty four hours. She paused to scan the camp for any sign of the twelve year old before she ducked into the tent. Inside, she found Killua sitting at the kitchen table nibbling on Bertie Bott's Beans while flipping through one of the books Azalea had left sitting around the tent.

She paused to blink at the kid before she shook her head and made her way towards the bedroom and the shower. Two minutes later, she heard the gasps and exclamations from the three entering the tent behind her; the witch hadn't thought to tell them about the magical tent. She would have smirked over their reaction if not for the fact that she was bone weary and in pain again. Once in the bedroom, Azalea dumped her book bag on the bed and slipped off her cloak before she carefully stripped out of both of her shirts.

"How did you get the scars on the back of your left shoulder? And why do you have bandages wrapped around your chest? Have you been hiding an old injury all this time?"

Azalea jumped a bit at the unexpected question as she pressed her shirts to her chest and whipped around to find that Kurapika had followed her into the bedroom. She then blushed self-consciously when she noted the way the other teen was running his eyes over her half dressed form. Turning away from the blond, she dug into her book bag for a clean set of clothes that she used to hide her bound chest before she dropped her dirty shirts into the hamper while she gave an evasive answer.

"I lost track of what I was doing and then didn't move out of the way fast enough. And no, I don't have any old injuries."

"What was it you were doing? And you still didn't say why you're chest is wrapped in a thick layer of gauze."

"Playing tag while flying," Azalea quipped as she briefly glanced over her shoulder with a self-depreciating grin while ignoring the pointed comment about her bindings. "My opponent was more than a little annoyed with me and she took great offense to my very existence."

"Why do I get the feeling that I am missing something?" Kurapika asked with a frown as his eyes returned to the three marks that marred Azalea's back.

"Why do you say that?"

"You're deliberately leaving out a considerable amount of details."

"I am?"

"Yes, you are; which means that you probably did something really stupid and you are too embarrassed to admit it."

"Not quite," Azalea sighed as she headed towards the bathroom. "I just don't like discussing my scars or talking about the things that happened in my fourth year."

"You could have just told me that you didn't want to talk about it."

"I just did."

"Uh-huh and what was all that about not being fast enough while making references to playing tag with angry people?"

"I guess I'm just so used to everyone around me always knowing everything about me and the things that I've done that I forgot that you don't really know anything about me or about the wizarding world in general aside from what little I've told you. And um… is there a reason why you followed me into the bathroom? Actually, why did you follow me into the bedroom in the first place?"

"The answer to both questions is that we never finished our discussion."

"Er… what discussion?"

"The one we were supposed to have yesterday about what is going on between us."

"We already talked about that."

"No, we never actually got around to discussing things."

"I distinctly remember there was talking involved at one point."

"True enough; I also remember there being a bit of yelling on your part as well."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to take my frustration out on you; I was just so…"

"Frustrated?" Kurapika finished dryly with a small grin that made Azalea snort softly in amusement. "And you don't have to apologize; I knew you weren't yelling at me and at the time I got the impression that you needed a chance to vent a little. Since the day I met you, I've noticed that you have a tendency to bottle up your emotions until they explode rather spectacularly the moment someone or something sets you off."

"Is that your way of calling me a drama queen?"

"I still say you'd look adorable in a dress."

"Don't make me…" Azalea began before she trailed of uncomfortably as glanced down at her bandaged wrapped right hand.

"James…?"

"Sorry… I just realized that it's rather pointless to threaten to hex you in tender places right now."

"The loss of your wand really bothers you, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, it does. I realize it might not seem that big of a deal to you but that wand has played a huge part in my life for the last five and half, six years and to suddenly be without it… it's unsettling. Like someone just cut off my hand; it was that much a part of me."

"You did very well without it during the first three tasks."

"Not true, I used it whenever the need arose. I never would have been able to heal Leorio without my wand. It bothers me to know that I won't be able to heal anyone else if they got seriously injured. Sure, I have a few wandless tricks I can use but I only felt confident using them because I knew I had my wand to fall back on."

"Don't you have any other skills aside from your magic to fall back on?"

"I can run pretty fast when I have to but only for short distances."

"You don't have any physical fighting skills at all?"

"Nope, not a one; unless you count dodging spell-fire as a fighting skill."

"Do any wizards know any self defense that doesn't involve a wand?"

"A few of them play with swords, I think."

"Are you one of them?"

"I did swing a sword around once but when compared to what I've seen you do with that pair of wooden swords you carry, my performance with a real sword was really rather pathetic."

"Yesterday you said something about finding someone to train you; what kind of training is it that you are looking to get? I mean, are you looking for another magical Hunter to train you to fight better with your magic or are you looking for some other skill that could help you?"

"I don't know. When I left, all I had was this vague idea that I could find someone to give me the training that I wasn't getting through Hogwarts. Brewing hair removing potions, herding nifflers, or learning how to turn a mouse into a snuffbox is all well and good for normal students but those things won't help me go toe to toe with a seventy-something year old Dark Lord that would love nothing better than to dance upon my bloody corpse."

"How much time are you willing to invest in your training?"

"If I can find someone to train me…? I'd have until roughly the end of July because I'd need time to get home before the next school year starts. I can't risk being gone any longer than that because Voldemort won't be content to just sit around and wait for me to keep getting stronger. I'm certain he's already started attacking key individuals in order to prevent them from getting in his way as well as attacking anyone with a connection to me because he hopes to flush me out."

"Then let me teach you how to use a pair of bokken," Kurapika suggested insistently as he moved closer. "If I remember correctly, you did say something about wanting to get yourself a pair of them."

"Why would you…?"

"Because I'm selfish," Kurapika replied lowly as he pushed Azalea up against the wall behind her and planted his hands to either side of her as he leaned down so that his mouth was hovering just inches away from hers. "I want to keep you close to me for as long as possible and because I hated seeing you sink into a panic attack after you lost your wand."

Kurapika's mouth claimed Azalea's a heartbeat later and Azalea let out a soft squeak of surprise before she let herself get caught up in the kiss. She moaned softly just seconds later when Kurapika slid a hand around the back of her neck to tangle his fingers in her hair while moving closer so that his body was lightly pressing up against Azalea's. Her clean clothes fell to the floor unheeded as her hands braced themselves against Kurapika's chest when the blond deepened the kiss to plunder her mouth with his tongue; her mind ignoring the brief spike of pain shooting through her injured hand.

Kurapika then coaxed Azalea into exploring his mouth in return with gentle teasing touches of his tongue against hers. It was a rather heady experience that took her breath away when the older teen moaned appreciatively in response to her tentative forays. The seventeen year old then broke their kiss to press kisses down Azalea's neck and over her collarbone while his free hand settled itself on Azalea's waist. Azalea trembled under the sensations assaulting her senses and she moaned softly as she felt heat pooling in her belly and between her legs as his lips moved against her bare skin.

She trembled again when she felt the calloused hand on her waist sliding higher until it reached the bottom edge of the bandages wrapped around her chest. Azalea made a brief noise of protest in the back of her throat when his thumb slid beneath the bandages while alarms began blaring in the back of her mind as a small part of her suddenly realized that she was close to being unmasked as a girl. That part of her was silenced a moment later as Kurapika let his hand drop away from her as he pulled back a bit in response to her wordless protest.

"James…?"

"Too much… too soon… too fast," Azalea murmured weakly as she dropped her head forward to rest against his chest while she tried to catch her breath; her entire body trembling. "I don't… I'm not… I mean I never… and I can't… but I want… and it's… complicated."

"You don't have to explain, kitten," Kurapika replied as he reached up to tenderly stroke her hair. "I should not have allowed myself to get carried away and for that, I am sorry. Will you be alright?"

"I'm fine," Azalea automatically replied after taking a shaky breath to bring her emotions somewhat under control.

"Are you really? Or is that just what you think I want to hear? I can still feel you trembling, you know."

"Yes, I'm really fine. I just… I'd never felt so… and you're the first to ever…"

"I'm the first to what?" Kurapika asked curiously when Azalea trailed off.

"You were the first person to ever kiss me," Azalea replied with a blush as she hunched her shoulders a bit. "A few of my more enthusiastic fans have tried before but I always managed to fend them off with the help of my friends and I've never been shy about hexing the more persistent ones in tender places. I honestly don't know why I didn't hex you the moment you first touched your lips to mine back on the day we first arrived on the island."

"You'll not hear me complain about a lack of hexing."

"Are you sure? I mean I could, if you really wanted me to…"

"I'm quite certain I'm very pleased over not getting hexed for daring to kiss you, kitten," Kurapika replied with a soft laugh as he buried his nose in Azalea's hair as the witch snickered softly. "So tell me, did your first kiss live up to your expectations?"

"Are you fishing for compliments?"

"No, but I won't turn one down. I actually wanted to make certain that you'd enjoyed yourself as much as I did."

"Oh, in that case, it was rather nice."

"Just nice…?"

"Fine, your kisses are bloody amazing, alright? I've never felt so… so alive. They're better than flying and I'd always thought flying was as good as it got," Azalea admitted as her earlier blush returned threefold to spread down her neck.

The blond laughed as he pulled away again and gently tugged on the back of Azalea's hair in order to get her to look up at him. The moment she did, Kurapika captured her lips in a tender kiss that sole her breath away just as easily as his earlier kisses had and if not for the fact that the taller teen still had her half pressed up against the wall, she would have ended up sprawled on the floor when her legs turned to jelly. When the kiss ended a few minutes later, Azalea released a small sigh and let her head fall back against the wall as she tried to catch her breath.

"I think it's safe to say that I am more than just alright knowing my kisses affect you to such a degree, James. But before I allow myself to get sidetracked by your delectable lips once more, I'd like to know whether or not you're going to take me up on my offer."

"Offer?" Azalea repeated with no small amount of confusion, her brain still in the process of trying to reboot.

"Yes, offer; you know the one I gave you earlier? When I told you I'd be willing to train you?"

"Oh… that offer," Azalea replied as she shook her head to clear away the cobwebs enough to think coherently. She let out a small annoyed growl when she caught the amused and self-satisfied grin playing about Kurapika's lips; the witch just knew the blond was pleased with himself for distracting her so thoroughly. She then sighed as she gave his offer some serious consideration before tentatively asking, "Can you explain to me exactly what it is you would be teaching me if I agree?"

"To start with, I'd have you work on increasing your physical fitness; which would include a more balanced diet and regular meals. Once there was less of a risk of you harming yourself due to less than perfect health, I'd start teaching you the basic aikido stances and katas before introducing you to swords and sword stances. I'd also teach you how to make your own bokken as it is important that you know your swords before you attempt to use them and there is no better way to learn everything there is to know about a sword than to make it yourself."

Kurapika paused a moment before he continued, "I won't lie; you may well hate me by the end of the first week but if I'm limited to roughly six or seven months to whip you into shape, then I'm going to have to push you to your breaking point over and over again and there will be blood, sweat, and tears involved every step of the way. You have to be willing to make the effort or there is no point in accepting."

"I'll need time to work on my spell casting once I figure out what I'm going to do about a wand," Azalea pointed out as she considered everything Kurapika had told her; part of her already accepting his offer because she didn't know how long it would be until she got another offer of training and because the idea of staying with the blond for several more months was far more appealing than it should have been.

"That will not be a problem. We'll start the real physical training once your hand is healed. In the mean time, we can start working on your diet and maybe focus on light stretches so that by the time I start you on conditioning exercises, you're body will already be getting the protein, vitamins, and minerals it needs to keep up and be limber enough to deal with the workouts I will put you through."

"Exactly what kind of diet are we talking about?" Azalea asked warily as she recalled Dahlia's diet from a few years back.

"We'll start simple by adding a little more protein, vitamin rich foods, and possibly add in a few supplements in addition to making certain you that eat three meals a day. We'll increase your portion sizes gradually so that we don't make you sick."

"That doesn't sound too bad."

"Glad to hear you approve," Kurapika retorted dryly as he teasingly poked Azalea in the side. "Now that that is settled; what shall we do about us… hmm?"

"What do you mean?"

"We've already established that we're both interested in one another… but while I'm perfectly content to have a physical relationship with you with no strings attached, I have no clue if you feel the same way. It might sound callous of me but I'm not looking to invest myself emotionally in a relationship and I'm not about to make any long term commitments until my clan has been avenged and I have recovered their eyes so that they might finally rest in peace. That's one of the reasons why I told you not to worry about hurting my feelings."

"So, what you're saying is that you just want sex from me?" Azalea asked with a small frown as she folded her arms protectively over her chest and dropped her gaze to Kurapika's chest in order to hide the small flash of pain that his declaration caused her.

"No, I value your friendship as well and if you hadn't been interested in me like that, then I would have let it go and been content to just stay friends. However, I am attracted to you and not just because you're an adorable little kitten; you're intelligent, you've got a rather warped sense of humor, you're a capable leader when you're not holding yourself back, and you're one of the few that I can relate to and who can relate to me. You also remind me of someone I once knew."

"Oh."

"So?"

Azalea pursed her lips as she considered exactly what it was that Kurapika was suggesting. She wasn't certain how she should feel about it because she wasn't certain just how she felt about the idea of casual sex. It didn't help that she'd grown up with the Dursleys who made it perfectly clear that any inappropriate behavior on her part would see her out on the streets faster than you could say snap. The wizarding world was even more uptight about the concept of physical intimacy outside of marriage (though that didn't stop underage witches and wizards from fooling around a bit; they just rarely ever went so far as to actually engage in sex – unless a boy was looking to ruin a girl for personal reasons or the pair were under a marriage contract). There was also the fact that she didn't know if there'd ever be another chance for her to have any kind of relationship given the prophecy looming over her head.

"I'm willing to let you decide just how far things go between us and knowing just how little experience you've had, I will try not to rush things so as not to make you uncomfortable," Kurapika softly stated as he leaned forward to nuzzle Azalea's neck just below her left ear. "I won't ever force you into doing anything you aren't certain you want to do."

"I don't know," Azalea breathed uncertainly as she closed her eyes and tipped her head to the side to give Kurapika better access to her neck; wanting to feel the things he made her feel even as her mind focused on what it was he was asking of her. "If my aunt and uncle ever found out about me just kissing you… if they were to suspect I'd even thought about doing more, let alone allowing you certain liberties… If I ended up…" _pregnant_, Azalea tacked on in her mind, "they'd kick me out of the house in a heartbeat. Not that I actually have any plans to live their house full time once I reach my majority…"

Kurapika pulled back a bit and studied her with concern as she continued, "And that's nothing compared to what the wizarding world would do if anyone learned I'd had a casual affair; the entire magical society is stuck in the Victorian Era when it comes to matters of courtship and marriage. They'd brand me a…" _harlot, a woman with loose morals, a whore_, she added silently as she brought her left hand up to cup her right shoulder and shivered. "Just standing here with you like this, with me only half dressed, would be enough to see me ostracized and shunned even more so than I was when the entire school found out I could speak to snakes in my second year."

"It's alright, James; I already told you I'm not going to push you into doing anything you don't want and…"

"That's just it…" Azalea cried out softly as she averted her face. "I do want to do more than just kiss. I want to feel the things you make me feel. I just… I've been told all my life that it is wrong to want those things, that it is inappropriate for me to feel the way I do, and that I should be ashamed of myself for wishing otherwise. And I'm scared because even though I know it's wrong, I still want it."

"Prejudices run deep in any society," Kurapika murmured as he pulled her into his arms and held her tenderly; the blond thinking that Azalea was referring to the stigma of same sex relationships while she was actually referring to the unwritten law that the only witches worth marrying were those that were still untarnished… still innocent and still virginal. "We don't have to do anything you think you might later regret."

Azalea tensed briefly before she relaxed into Kurapika's chest; the sixteen year old relishing the comfort and security she found in the gentle embrace (which was quite different than Horatio's power hugs, Ron's borderline inappropriate hugs, or Mrs. Weasley's smothering hugs). She let out a soft sigh and pressed her face into the crook of Kurapika's shoulder as she let the warmth of his arms encircling her chase away her fears and insecurities.

They were interrupted two minutes later as Leorio pounded on the door and asked, "Is everything was alright in there?"

Azalea let out a whine of complaint as Kurapika pulled away and half turned from her to call out, "Yes, everything is just fine, Leorio."

"Good to know, can the two of you hurry up; Gon and I would like to have a chance to shower too."

The witch pouted when Kurapika removed his arms completely and stepped away from her, taking the pleasant heat of his body with him, and the seventeen year old chuckled before pressing a brief kiss to her lips before instructing, "Take your shower, kitten."

Kurapika was gone two seconds later and Azalea thumped her head back against the wall and let out an explosive sigh as she wondered if she knew what she was doing. She shook her head a moment later and pushed away from the wall so she could turn on the shower before she stripped out of her pants and unwound the gauze that flattened and hid her undersized breasts (another sore point thanks to her stunted growth; though their small size did make it easier for her to pass herself off as a boy). Exactly twenty-two minutes later, Azalea walked out of the bathroom with her still damp hair sticking up all over the place wearing clean clothes and dumped her soiled pants into the hamper to be cleaned.

She then headed out into the living area of the tent in order to let the others know the bathroom was clear. She found the others seated around the kitchen table eating sandwiches that had been made from the supplies that came out of the stasis box. She couldn't help the blush that painted her face when Kurapika glanced up at her and smiled. The blush only deepened when she caught the knowing smirk that Leorio sent her way as the nineteen year old stuffed the last bit of his sandwich into his mouth and climbed to his feet in order to go take a shower.

"Come sit down and eat, kitten," Kurapika ordered as he patted the chair beside him where an extra plate had been set.

"Kitten…?" Killua repeated incredulously before the twelve year old burst out laughing.

Azalea narrowed her eyes briefly before she smirked; looks like she might have finally found a reason to break into the box of prank supplies that the twins had given to her before she left England. She wiped the expression from her face a moment later as she sauntered across the room and slid into the seat beside Kurapika. All thoughts of paybacks and pranks flew from her head a moment later when Kurapika addressed her once more.

"After you've finished eating, I want to take you out into the forest to search for a decent sized oak, walnut, or cherry tree; an old one with fairly straight branches preferably."

"Why?"

"To get the wood that you'll need to make your bokken. You can practice carving on pine or other soft woods but you'll want a solid hardwood for the actual blades otherwise they'll crack and splinter the first time you use them in a spar or a real fight."

"How big of a piece would I need?"

"At least three or four feet for each sword and we'll need to make certain the pieces we collect aren't twisted or full of knots."

"Those crafty little buggers, I wonder how they knew?" Azalea mused as she thought back to the oversized branch that the bowtruckles had gifted her with after she'd spent the afternoon feeding and playing with them. "I had wondered why they'd given me a branch from their tree at the time; especially one so large."

She then jumped up and dashed back to the room to grab her book bag before returning to the kitchen. She set the bag down on the table and took a moment to rifle through everything until she found the large branch she'd been given by the bowtruckles a few days earlier. She tugged on the branch and pulled it out of the bag with some difficulty using only one hand.

"Will this do, Kura?" Azalea asked as she grinned at the stunned expression on Kurapika's face as she propped the end of the branch on the floor and leaned against it.

"Okay, am I the only one here that thinks there's something seriously wrong with him pulling that out of his little bag of tricks?" Killua demanded as he picked his jaw up off the floor. "There's no way that should have been able to fit inside of that little bag no matter how good you are at packing."

"That was so cool, what else are you hiding in there, James?" Gon asked as he dashed around the table to peer inside of the bag only for him to end up getting zapped by the protective charms yet again when he couldn't resist reaching out to pull the mouth of the bag open wider.

"Killua, there's no way a one bedroom apartment would fit inside of a one-man tent and yet here we are," Kurapika pointed out as he got up to inspect the branch Azalea had taken out of her bag. "Where did you get that, James? When did you get it?"

"It was given to me two days ago by the bowtruckles that were protecting the huge oak I found on the other side of the island. At the time I thought it odd that they'd given me anything but now I wonder if they knew I'd need this."

"What's a bowtruckle?"

"It's a forest dwelling creature that acts like something of a guardian for the tree it makes it home in; a bowtruckle will typically seek out trees with magical properties and it will protect the tree from humans and other animals. I spent hours with a trio of them feeding them wood lice and fruit and they gave this to me in return."

"You have the strangest luck, kitten," Kurapika mused as he hefted the branch to test its weight. "This should do quite nicely for your bokken; it is well balanced and almost completely straight with no visible knots. After you finish eating, don't think I didn't notice you barely touched your sandwich, we can dig up a few smaller pine boughs for you to practice carving on once your hand has healed."

Two hours later, Azalea was seated beside the fire pit next to Kurapika with a large pile of one foot long branches of varying diameters from several different types of trees as she listened to the blond explaining how to go about selecting an appropriate piece of wood to carve a bokken from (since she won't always find a convenient tree guardian to gift her with the perfect branch). The various branches they'd collected after the meal were used as examples of good and bad selections as Kurapika pointed out the flaws in each one.

Leorio dragged her away to check on her hand an hour later. That involved another half hour torture session as the teen cleaned out the burn a second time and removed a few sections of dead skin that he'd missed the first time before he loosely rebandaged it once more. The only good thing about the entire process was the news that her hand was healing even if it still had a long way to go. Azalea would have preferred to use magical burn paste on the burn to speed up the healing but her Home Healer's Kit hadn't had any in it.

Azalea was a bit depressed after that; her hand a vivid reminder of what she'd lost.

Kurapika pulled her out of her funk by hauling her off to the bedroom to spend an hour teaching her the proper way to stretch out her muscles in order to increase her flexibility (one of the few exercises that wouldn't tax her hand or her less than perfectly healthy body). The remainder of the evening was then spent relaxing and reading out in the living room; Azalea laying with her head pillowed on Kurapika's lap as they shared the couch. She eventually drifted off to sleep with the fingers of Kurapika's left hand gently playing with the strands of her hair.

When she opened her eyes the next morning, Azalea experienced a moment of disorientation as she unexpectedly found herself tucked into the bed when she distinctly recalled falling asleep on the couch. She was just sitting up when the bedroom door opened and Kurapika walked into the room. Azalea blushed and had to fight the urge to hide under the covers the moment her gaze was caught up in a pair of intense chocolate eyes; the witch felt naked despite the fact that she was still wearing the clothes she'd fallen asleep in.

"Good morning, kitten; I was just coming to wake you up," Kurapika greeted as he shamelessly walked right up to the bed and smiled down at her. "Breakfast is already on the table and you should stretch out before eating."

"Morning, Kurapika," Azalea returned as she self-consciously slipped out from under the covers.

She then excused herself to use the bathroom to relieve her bladder and promptly discovered that she'd started her period sometime during the night. Cursing her body's rotten timing for reminding her of the fact that, yes, she was a girl despite her pretending she wasn't; at least it partially explained why she'd been so emotional and moody over the past few days. After soundly cursing Mother Nature for her woman's curse, Azalea stuck her head out the door to see if the coast was clear so she could get her book bag only to discover that Kurapika was lounging on her bed.

Embarrassed as all hell and currently unable to use her magic to summon her bag to her (due to her injured right hand), Azalea shyly requested, "Kura, could you please toss me my bag?"

The seventeen year old willingly complied, though he actually delivered the bag into her hand and stole a kiss before he let her have it. She would have felt far more flattered if not for the fact that she felt icky because she was on her period and because she still had morning breath since she'd not yet brushed her teeth. Kurapika chuckling over how flustered she was at the moment didn't help and she ended up snapping the door shut in his face after she growled at him. A quick shower, a fresh change of clothes (complete with menstrual pad), and a swig of Maiden's Malady Mixture (a potion designed to ease the discomfort associated with a woman's menstrual cycle) helped her feel more like herself.

She exited the bathroom half an hour later (after brushing her teeth) and tossed her dirty clothes into the hamper after collecting the clean ones that had been washed the night before. She then striped the sheets from the bed while trying to prevent Kurapika, who had not left the room, from seeing the bloodstains when he insisted on helping her. Azalea was starting to think that her face was going to permanently turn red due to all the blushing she kept doing in the blond's presence. Kurapika's soft laughter and seemingly knowing smiles didn't help her one bit, either.

After remaking the bed, Kurapika watched her stretch out; the blond occasionally correcting her position when she made a mistake or accidentally skipped a stretch. Once she was finished, Kurapika shooed her out to the kitchen for breakfast where the other three were just finishing their meal.

"Did everyone get their six points?" Azalea asked as she dropped down into the nearest chair and did her best to ignore the knowing smirk that was once again plastered on Leorio's face; making a mental note to add his name to her list of people to prank.

"Of course," Killua replied as he patted his shirt.

"Yes," Gon quietly stated as the normally boisterous twelve year old glared at his plate.

Azalea glanced sharply at the kid and finally noticed the rather spectacular bruise that marred his right cheek. She scowled both over the bruise and the fact that she hadn't noticed it sooner but said nothing since it was obvious that the kid was upset about whatever it was that had happened. Part of that was because Azalea knew how much she hated it when others pestered her for information when she was in one of those moods and she knew that Gon would tell them what was wrong when he was ready or he'd get over it on his own.

"I've got mine as well," Kurapika added to draw the attention away from the pre-teen. "Leorio's target was Ponzu (the woman from the cave) and Gon took her badge before we left so that means Leorio has his points now too. What about you, did you find your target?"

"Yeah, I switched his badge out on the afternoon of the fourth day. I'd picked up four extras as well. I'd hoped to run into Tonpa at some point but I didn't go out of my way to look for him because I hadn't forgotten that he was your target."

"Don't worry, kitten, I made certain I expressed your displeasure over his very existence to him for you," Kurapika drawled with a smirk as he glanced sideways at Azalea. "I suspect that this year will be his final attempt at taking the Hunter's Exam. He was no spring chicken after all."

"I wish I could have seen that," Azalea replied with a smirk of her own.

"Hey, James, what should we do about the fake badges that we gave out?" Gon asked suddenly. "What will happen if a bunch of people show up claiming to have taken the same badges?"

"That's easy; I just have to cancel the spells once I'm…" Azalea began only to blanch when her mind caught up with her mouth as she stared down at her injured hand. "Shit."

"What's wrong?" Killua asked in confusion while the other three glanced at Azalea's hand with concern.

"James's wand burned up on him," Gon answered when Azalea bowed her head and curled her hands into fists; the witch ignoring the pain in her right hand as she cursed the loss of her wand again.

"Can you cancel the spells wandlessly?" Kurapika asked.

"Normally, yes," Azalea replied as she relaxed just a touch and unclenched her right hand. "The problem is that I'm right handed and attempting to use any magic right now would make my hand worse because of the magical burns I received when the wand caught fire. I don't know if I would have enough control to use my left hand or not."

"We should still have enough fake badges between the five of us that you can figure that out right now," Kurapika stated as he pushed to his feet. "It shouldn't take us more than an hour to pack up the camp and that will leave us six hours before we're due to return to the starting point; that leaves you two hours to practice."

"It won't even take that long to break down the camp; all I have to do is collect my books and clothes before I pull the tent down and dismantle the wards."

"Let's get started then."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>_Okay, before someone rants and raves that Kurapika should have seen through Azalea's disguise during the bathroom scene, there are several reasons why he didn't. One, he never actually got a clear view of her bound chest and the times he could have, his attention was focused on other things. Two, his mind was far more wrapped up in the discussion they were having and his offer and not on her body. And three, I see Azalea's magic unconsciously seeking to help her continue the ruse; sort of like accidental magic. _

_There's also the fact that when I tried to write the unveiling at this point, it felt far too contrived and forced and it didn't flow right. Hence the reason why I turfed that bit and rewrote it as it is now. We'll see Kurapika's thoughts on how he feels once he realizes how many clues he overlooked but that is still a few chapters away. You also have to remember, that at this point in the story, Kurapika is still far more concerned with the Spider and avenging his clan than he is on unraveling the secrets that surround Azalea. In a way, his attraction to Azalea is affecting his abilities because he's fighting against what he wants and what he believes he has to do._

_And finally, I should point out that Kurapika saw what he expected to see; he believes Azalea to be a boy and so therefore he saw a boy. Much like the muggles in Britain ignored the way things jumped out of the path of the Knight Bus as it barreled along under Ernie's crazed driving. So there is a precedence for ignorance in HP canon. ~ Jenn  
><em>


	15. Trial x and x Error

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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><p><span>Chapter Fifteen: Trial x and x Error<span>

After collecting her scattered belongings and packing up the tent, Azalea sat down in the center of the camp with a pile of fake badges piled up in front of her and prepared to make an attempt to remaster the Cancellation Spell in two hours. She started out small; simply pulling her magic from her core. The flood of magic that rushed forward once again caught Azalea off guard and she bit off a curse as she was forced to let go of the magic immediately as it set her right hand on fire. The witch scowled as she tried to figure out why her magic felt so out of control after all the work she'd put into gaining that control in the first place.

Her next two tries netted her the same exact results and she ended up swearing up a storm for a good fifteen minutes before she dug out her book on wandless magic to find out what she had suddenly started doing wrong. When that didn't help her, she closed her eyes and meditated as she reached down inside of herself to tentatively feel out her core in an effort to find out what had changed. Right away she noticed that her core looked and felt far different than it had the first time she'd sought it out when she was first learning to call up her magic wandlessly.

The first time she had seen her core, it had been surrounded by a fine mesh net (similar to a nylon stocking) that had held the majority of her magic in place while only allowing a small trickle of magic out between the spaces in the netting; spaces that had gradually doubled in size over the past six months as she used more and more wandless magic. Now, all that remained of that netting was a few shredded sections that clung to the edges of her core. Believing that the net had been part of her core and therefore necessary; Azalea reached out to take hold of the remains in order to repair the net.

The moment her hand touched the broken strands of the net, she knew that the net wasn't part of her core and that it never should have been there in the first place (the witch never before had cause to actually touch the net to reach her magic previously).

Azalea had become intimately aware of what her magic felt and tasted like during the process of learning how to cast wandlessly and the magic that made up the broken strands of the net tasted nothing like her magic. Someone had bound her core. Angry, Azalea methodically stripped every last remaining thread from her core and shredded them completely to prevent them from taking hold of her core once more. She then spent several minutes attempting to tame the wild storm that her magic had become the moment it had been freed of its bindings; the natural flow of her magic having been disrupted by the presence of the bindings and further corrupted by the haphazard release of the binds.

Once her magic had settled down a touch, Azalea unexpectedly came face to face with the two animals that represented her inner nature (animals that had been bound alongside of her core). She snorted in amusement the moment she saw the small mostly white calico cat covered in messy patches of rusty red and pitch black including one particularly abstract patch of black that covered the top of its head, one ear and half its face; the animal that represented her inner child due to her independence, playful nature, and boundless curiosity. The animal that represented her soul, on the other hand, was a half grown Siberian tiger with thick black and rusted red stripes cutting through pale white; a more powerful avatar that had a similar nature to that of her inner child with a wide territorial streak and a temper (when provoked).

Kurapika would undoubtedly have a field day if Azalea ever learned to transform into either of her alternate forms and learned his nickname was far truer than he might have imagined.

After studying her two forms for a long minute, Azalea reached out to pet both cats in order to familiarize herself with her inner natures before she left her meditative state. She then opened her eyes and hissed out an angry, "When I find the bloody buggering bugbear that bound my core I'm going to string him up by his bloody balls and beat him black and blue with his own arms."

"Can you undue whatever it was that was done?" Kurapika inquired with a slight frown from where he was sitting just a few feet away from the witch.

"I already did; that's the problem. I thought the Snake Charmer had left some kind of hidden trap that destroyed my wand but after discovering the shattered bindings on my core I believe that my wand had been unable to cope with the flood of unrestrained magic that I used to remove the spells from all of the snakes and as a result, it caught fire. The magic from the bindings felt fairly old, so I'm guessing that they had been in place since before I started Hogwarts and had therefore began weakening steadily once I started training my magic after I turned eleven. I probably further weakened them when I started learning how to cast wandlessly since I continuously pulled more and more magic from my core with each spell I cast."

"What does that mean for you?" Leorio asked curiously.

"It basically means I have no control right now because my magic is in complete disarray due to the bindings hindering the natural flow of my magic for so long. The effect could easily be compared to a river overflowing during a violent storm and subsequently destroying everything in its path until the storm calms and the flood waters recede."

"What will you do about the fake badges?" Killua asked as he toed the pile of badges with his left foot.

"This," Azalea declared as she stood up, forced her magic into her left hand, and silently cast the Cancellation Spell. A small pulse of magic exploded out from her hand and every active spell caught within the path of the pulse for a good mile ceased to function the moment the wave of magic washed over it (her magical belongings only escaping the purge due them being behind Azalea at the time). "Once we reach the starting point and I'm certain most everyone is there; I'll cast it again. Thankfully, that particular spell doesn't require a whole lot of control to work or I'd not be able to do a thing about the rest of the fakes."

"How long do you think it will take you to regain control?" Kurapika asked as the five of them prepared to head out now that there was no longer a reason to delay their return.

"Months," Azalea replied as she kicked the ruined ward stone she'd just been about to pick up (it had been in the direct path of her overpowered spell). "Once the burns on my hand heal, it will be easier for me to practice since I won't have to worry about my magic making them worse. In the mean time, I'll have to be careful not to use my magic unless I absolutely have to because even a harmless Stinging Hex could do considerable damage when overpowered."

Nothing further was said as the five of them headed for the starting point at a swift jog. At the end of their first hour of travel, Azalea cast a wandless Homenum Revelio (another spell that didn't exactly require an excessive amount of control) and cursed a bit when the feed back of the spell gave her an immediate headache due to the range the overpowered spell had covered. There was a reason, after all, why it was recommended for a person to limit the amount of ground that spell covered to somewhere between a twenty and fifty foot radius; the larger the area scanned, the more feedback the spell shoved into your head.

She didn't bother attempting to use that spell again; the group relying instead on Gon's superhuman sense of smell and Killua's heightened senses to detect anyone attempting to sneak up on them.

They made it to the starting point with a half an hour to spare and Azalea was practically dead on her feet as she'd had trouble keeping up with the others because she was nowhere as physically fit as they were and because she'd not quite recovered from her stunt in the Snake Charmer's cave. She had at one point considered taking her broom out of her bag but decided against it after glancing at Kurapika; the witch vividly recalled what the blond had said about there being blood, sweat, and tears involved in her training.

If she couldn't handle a bit of running, then how could she expect to handle whatever Kurapika threw her way? And so Azalea had gamely plowed onwards even when it felt like her legs were going to seize up and fall off and her lungs felt as if they'd burst.

"How did you make it through the First Phase?" Leorio demanded after he noted Azalea's red face, sweat soaked clothes, and ragged gasping breathing.

"I flew."

"Idiot, why didn't you fly this time?" Kurapika chastised as he slapped Azalea upside the back of the head.

"You promised me blood, sweat, and tears," Azalea rasped as she glanced up at the blond.

"Idiot," Kurapika repeated with a huff. "I told you I wasn't going to start your physical conditioning until after your hand healed and after you'd had time to adjust to your new diet. You could do yourself serious damage pushing yourself stupidly like that."

"What are the two of you talking about?" Gon asked curiously as he glanced between the two of them.

"Kurapika agreed to train me."

"New rule, kitten; you aren't allowed to do anything physically taxing unless I give you permission."

"Yes, mother," Azalea cheekily retorted; earning herself another slap upside the head.

"Cheeky brat," Kurapika huffed before he pushed Azalea backwards so that she fell on her butt. "Stretch; or your muscles will seize up later."

Azalea snickered as she complied with the order and by the time she finished (needing only a few corrections from the blond this time) she was no longer winded and her legs had stopped trembling. She was then handed one of the bottled waters that Kurapika had been carrying around all week and told to drink at least a quarter of it in small sips; an order that she gladly obeyed. Once she finished the water, she climbed back up to her feet, pulled her father's invisibility cloak out of her bag, and disappeared underneath it before she made her way to the starting point to cast the Cancellation Spell on the people that had been gathering there for the last two hours.

The others followed behind her, Gon following the faint scent of Azalea's blood that hadn't completely been masked by the cloak. Azalea canceled the spells on her fake badges just before the woman that had explained the rules of the Fourth Phase to them asked them to present their collected badges to prove they had the necessary points to pass. The witch then crouched down behind Leorio and Kurapika to remove her cloak so that no one else would see her appear from out of nowhere. It was decidedly amusing to watch eight of the other applicants frantically search their clothes for the missing copies of their badges or stare stupidly at the rocks they found in place of their actual badges.

Unfortunately, Hisoka was not one of those that came up short any points; though it was obvious that Gon had taken the man's badge.

All told, there were ten applicants that had passed the Fourth Phase; numbers forty-four, fifty-three, ninety-nine, one-ninety-one, two-ninety-four, three-oh-one, three-fifty-four, three-fifty-five, three-fifty-six, and three-fifty-seven. Seven of which were all rookie applicants. Those eight that had not passed, that had fully expected to pass, were more than a little pissed and they were exceedingly vocal about being made to look like fools. A year ago, Azalea might have felt a twinge of remorse for being responsible for crushing their hopes of passing the exam. A year ago, she'd still believed in playing fairly and following the rules.

Now…? Now, she knew that if she wanted to win, then she'd have to take any and every advantage that she could.

Those that had passed the task were taken back to Trick Tower Island where the airship that had carried them to the island ten days earlier was waiting for them while the rest of the applicants were escorted to another airship that would deliver them back to Dolle Harbor. As the other nine applicants boarded the blimp, Azalea stopped and searched the sky for any sign of Hedwig as she gave out a long, shrill whistle. She desperately whistled twice more when there'd been no response to her first whistle and she probably would have been left behind if not for Kurapika coming back out to drag her onto the airship.

Between Hedwig's continued absence and the destruction of her wand, Azalea's mood was at an all time low and if not for Kurapika sticking to her side like glue, Azalea probably would have disappeared to sulk. As it was, the blond hauled the smaller teen off to the Infirmary to have her hand looked at (after demanding directions from Satotz, who'd greeted them all as they boarded the airship). Dr. Mackle had been more than a little upset with Azalea over the wretched state of her hand; especially after he'd learned she'd been holding a burning stick in her hand (the exact nature of the stick and the reason it had caught fire left out intentionally).

The first thing the doctor had done was give Azalea a local anesthetic numb the hand before he spent an hour cleaning up the edges of the burn to remove the small bits of dead skin that Leorio had missed. Once those had been removed, Azalea's hand was numbed a second time and the injury washed with a powerful antiseptic to prevent an infection from setting in before being slathered with a specialized burn cream and deftly wrapped up in clean bandages.

The doctor had then slapped the tube of burn cream into Azalea's left hand along with several unopened rolls of gauze and an unopened box of single dose Tylenol samples and told to apply the cream twice daily for five days. Azalea got up to leave at that point only for Kurapika to shove her back on the bed as he turned around and browbeat the doctor into giving Azalea a complete physical. Azalea tried to protest but the doctor looked far too pleased about the demand and Kurapika wasn't budging; the blond pointedly reminding Azalea that he needed to know the state of Azalea's current physical health in order to put together an appropriate training program. That announcement led to Kurapika being added to Azalea's file as the primary contact in the event of an emergency.

She was thankful that the doctor had at least made Kurapika wait outside the infirmary while he conducted exam.

By the time they left the Infirmary some four and a half hours after boarding the airship, Azalea was in a right foul mood and giving Kurapika the silent treatment after the teen had insisted upon Azalea being subjected to the humiliating and highly invasive physical that the doctor had put her through (the witch not aware that half of the tests that she'd been given weren't actually part of a standard physical). The fact that Kurapika found the entire thing amusing wasn't helping; the blond teasingly telling her that she was acting like a miffed cat. Azalea had growled at him and stalked away; making the seventeen year old laugh harder.

Azalea's temper tantrum was cut short by the ship wide announcement that all of ten of the applicants that had passed the Fourth Phase were required to sit through a one on one interview with Chairman Netero in numerical order. She let out a soft whine as she tried to decide whether she should be worried or annoyed and soon settled on panicked as she recalled just how freely she'd used her magic during the Chairman's 'game' and during the Third Phase of the exam. Kurapika, once he noticed her growing distress, dragged her to the nearest empty dorm and locked the door before taking Azalea's mind off the coming interview by kissing her senseless (and once again coming close to discovering her true gender) until he was called to the Chairman's office for his interview (Azalea's number the highest of those left which meant that she would be the last applicant to be interviewed).

When Azalea's turn finally came, she woodenly made her way through the halls to Netero's office feeling like a prisoner walking to her execution. She hesitated outside of the man's office for a brief moment before knocking on the door to announce her presence. Netero called for her to enter almost as soon as her knuckles connected with the door and Azalea hesitated again before she opened the door and entered the room. Azalea glanced around the office once, taking in the tasteful traditional Japanese theme that the room had been decorated with, before settling her eyes on the old man seated behind a low table just off to her right.

"Ah, right on time; please have a seat so we may begin."

Azalea studied Netero for a long minute before she did as instructed; kneeling down on the small mat that sat on the opposite side of the table from the old man. She felt more than a little uncomfortable with the intense scrutiny that the man was giving her in return and Azalea felt decidedly naked without her hat; the fedora had been left behind in the underground cavern with the dead snake charmer after being forgotten in the wake of the destruction of her wand.

"I was informed that you spent several hours in the Infirmary upon boarding; I trust that any injuries you received were minor enough that they will not prevent you from participating in the Final Phase?"

"I'm fine."

"That is good to hear," Netero murmured as he picked up a rather thick file from the floor that he flipped through for a moment before he opened a pot of ink and palmed a fine tipped Japanese calligraphy brush. The man then returned his gaze to Azalea as he asked, "Why do you want to become a Hunter?"

"I needed to find someone to train me," Azalea quietly replied after a short internal debate on whether or not it would be wise to give the man an evasive answer.

"Training? What kind of training could the Hunter's Association possibly provide for a young witch who should, by rights, be sequestered within a rather drafty Scottish castle at this moment in time, young lady?"

A lance of pure terror shot through Azalea as she bolted to her feet and danced back away from the man the moment the man admitted to knowing that Azalea was both magical and female (though she shouldn't have been surprised that he'd learned her true gender after she'd ended up in the Infirmary the first time). She dug into her pocket for her wand only to let out a whine that was half irritation and half fear as she belatedly remembered that she no longer had a wand. Her next course of action was to flee the room and she dashed to the door only to find that it had somehow been locked after she'd entered the room.

"Calm yourself, young lady; I mean you no harm."

"Bugger that! Let me out of here," Azalea barked back over her shoulder without looking as she rattled the door again.

"Sit down, Miss Potter; you will not be leaving this room until we are finished with our discussion," Netero ordered in a voice that demanded instant compliance.

Azalea slowly let go of the door handle and turned around to face Netero as the blood drained from her face over the realization that the man not only knew that she was a witch but that he knew exactly who Azalea was. She then slumped back against the door and covered her face with her hands as she silently cursed herself for a fool; she should have known better than to flaunt her magic the way she had during the exam. She also should have known that it was fruitless to hide who she was when her picture had been plastered across newspapers from all over the world thanks her status as the Girl-Who-Lived and her entry into the Tri-Wizard Tournament two years earlier.

"Sit down," Netero repeated in a much softer tone.

Azalea wearily dropped her hands and pushed away from the door, defeat evident in every line of her posture as she slowly crossed the room, sank back onto the mat, and bowed her head. She swallowed around the lump of fear in her throat as she hoarsely asked, "How… how do you know my last name?"

"You mean aside from the fact that you signed all of your medical documents with your full name?" Netero dryly asked in return. "Simple; I recognized your eyes and your scar."

Azalea palmed her face over the fact that she'd signed her full name to all of the forms that Dr. Mackle had had her fill out and sign that first time she'd woken up in the Infirmary. She couldn't believe she'd been that stupid; though in her defense, she'd never been formally trained in the art of subterfuge and only ever used an alias once before (and that hadn't involved signing her name to anything). She'd also still been reeling from everything that had happened after her first interview with Netero and the vision that Voldemort had sent her about Remus's death.

"Will I be disqualified now?" Azalea asked quietly once she got over the revelation of her own stupidity. "Am I going to be arrested or something for being here?"

"Whether or not you are disqualified will depend upon how you answer my questions and whether or not you pass the Final Phase. As to your other question… why would you think you'd be arrested?"

"I was told that Hunters hunted wizards."

"Well, there is some truth in that; we have hunted dark wizards and witches to keep the peace in the past. And some Hunters are sent after other magicals for reasons known only to their clients; not all Hunters are saints after all and they aren't above performing assassinations for the right price."

"Oh."

"Now, shall we continue, young lady? We were discussing your desire to seek training and the reasons why you weren't attending Hogwarts for said training."

"That's just it; I wasn't getting the training I need at school and I don't want to die, sir."

"I'm not following your logic, young lady. Why don't you start at the beginning and tell me what led you to making the decision to enter the Hunter Exam?"

"The beginning…? Well, I don't suppose it counts as breaking the Statue of Secrecy if you already know about magic and I'd already done that when I'd used my magic in front of the others so I guess… in for a penny, in for a pound as they say. There's a lot I don't know or don't understand but I suppose you could say it starts with a wizard by the name of Tom Marvolo Riddle who at some point started calling himself Lord Voldemort. He killed my parents on Halloween night in nineteen-eighty-one…"

For the next three hours, Azalea talked herself hoarse as she spoke of what she knew of Voldemort, skimmed over her years of growing up with the Dursleys, talked about learning the truth about her heritage, and spoke of the things she'd seen and experienced during her five years at Hogwarts. The only thing she did not speak of was the exact wording of the prophecy; her need to protect that information far too engrained in her magic and her soul.

It was rather therapeutic to pour out her entire story without holding anything back; something she'd never done before, though she had shared bits and pieces with her life with her friends back home and more recently with Kurapika. She wasn't quite certain why she was opening up to the old man sitting across from her but it somehow felt right to do so (the young witch unaware that she was being subtly manipulated by the Nen of a hidden Hunter).

"…and after Voldemort fled, Dumbledore sent me back to his office. It was then that he told me about the prophecy and explained his reasons for doing the things he'd done. I was so frightened, confused, and angry. I hated myself for being stupid and getting everyone hurt again, I hated Dumbledore for being human enough to make mistakes, I hated Snape for being the petty bastard he is, I hated Bellatrix for killing my godfather, and I hated Sirius for not staying safe."

"It wasn't until I heard my cousin arguing with my uncle over entering the Hunter's Exam that I remembered how much I'd wanted to be a Hunter before I learned about the wizarding world. After thinking about it over the rest of the drive home, I came to the decision that if the wizards weren't going to train me, then I was going to find someone else to train me. I packed what I thought I needed, manipulated my uncle into giving me Dahlia's boarding pass by appealing to his desire to be rid of me, and ran."

"I made a trip to the bank, learned my godfather named me his heir, made out a will, took out some money, and bought some supplies. I visited the Weasley twins and confessed my intentions of taking the Exam and they gave me a few suggestions, some supplies, and told me to contact them if I needed anything. I boarded the ship the next day and now here I am," Azalea finished tiredly; her throat dry and scratchy from talking for so long.

"Here, drink this; it will sooth your throat," Netero instructed as he poured Azalea a cup of green tea and stirred in a generous spoonful of honey to it before passing it to the teen. "I must say, that was a most impressive tale and if I was not already aware of bits and pieces of your story, then I would have thought you were telling me tall tales. I thank you for being honest with me, young lady. There were several things you mentioned that I would like to discuss in more depth with you but that can wait until after the Final Phase of the Exam when we see whether or not you earn your license."

"Okay," Azalea replied after a moment.

"In the mean time, I have two final questions for you; first, can you tell me which of your fellow applicants you have kept an eye on since the start of the exam?"

"All of them; I was terrified of being unmasked as a girl and finding myself at the mercy of someone stronger than me or ousted as a magical and being disqualified or worse because of it. I paid closer attention to those that were bullies though and those that I sensed were dangerous out of necessity; like Hisoka. I also made it a point to help the four applicants that somehow ended up as my near constant companions since I stepped off the ship in Dolle Harbor."

"Interesting and not really all that surprising. Final question; which of the remaining applicants would you least want to fight?"

Azalea let out a choked laugh that was full of pain as her thoughts immediately went to her lack of a wand, her current lack of control, and her injured right hand. After a moment she pulled her emotions back under control as she rasped out, "I can't fight any of them and wouldn't want to in the first place. If forced to fight anyway, then I wouldn't want to face Hisoka or any of my companions; most especially Kurapika because I wouldn't want to stand in the way of his passing the exam since I don't think he'd be willing to fight me either."

"Why do you say you can't fight? Did you not say your injuries were minor?"

"My wand caught fire in my hand two days ago, sir, and I no longer have any control over my wandless casting because I just shredded the bindings that someone had placed on my core long before I started Hogwarts. I have no other skills to speak of though but despite knowing I am at a disadvantage, I can't and won't quit."

"I see. I suppose that is something else we will need to address once the Exam is over. Do you have any questions that you wish to ask of me before you are dismissed?"

"Just one, sir," Azalea replied as she looked up to meet Netero's gaze for the first time since that man had made it known that he knew exactly who she was. "Earlier you said you'd recognized my eyes and for the last five years everyone has always told me that I have my mother's eyes… So, can you please tell me when and how you met my mother?"

"I'm sorry, young lady, but I'm afraid that I never met your mother," Netero countered as he set his brush down and leaned back to study Azalea for a moment. "I was, however, good friends with a wizard by the name of Gregory Evans right up until he was killed during the Grindelwald mess back in forty-three. His eyes were the exact same shade of green as yours and Greg once told me that I would only ever see eyes like his on those magicals that had Evans blood running through their veins. I knew you were his great-granddaughter the moment I saw your eyes."

"My great-grandfather…?" Azalea parroted back as her mouth went dry. "Can you…? Will you please…? What was he like?"

"He was one of the best damned Hunters I ever had the privilege of training and fighting alongside," Netero replied with a small, fond smile. "Now, shoo, child. I have work to do."

Azalea nodded and stood up on legs that had gone numb from sitting in one position for so long. She took a couple of staggering steps towards the door before she paused and glanced back at Netero. She then cleared her throat to get the man's attention and waited for him to glance up before she solemnly stated, "Thank you, sir; for everything."

The witch then slipped out the door and wandered away from the office as her thoughts churned endlessly with the knowledge that not only had her mother not been a true muggleborn but that her great-grandfather had been a Magical Hunter. The dazed sixteen year old had no idea how long she'd been drifting aimlessly through the deserted halls of the airship when she had the misfortune of crossing paths Hisoka.

One minute, she was walking down an empty hallway and the next she was faced with a dead end she swore hadn't been there a minute earlier. She simply turned around to retrace her footsteps only to find herself trapped in a six foot by six foot stretch of hallway (that was completely void of all security cameras) with a smug Hisoka watching her with hooded amber eyes from where he was leaning against the wall.

"I am impressed, little mouse; I'd been so certain that you'd been caught in a mousetrap when I heard you scream so deliciously a few days ago only to find you'd slipped free before I could save you. Then I found your little burrow where Bourbon the Snake Charmer had died and I had been impressed all over again to discover that my little mouse could outwit the serpent. I am looking forward to seeing how you impress me next. In the mean time, I noticed you dropped something after you fled your burrow."

Azalea stood poleaxed as Hisoka produced her missing hat from out of thin air before he pushed away from the wall and strode towards where Azalea was standing frozen. Azalea took several shaky steps backwards as the man drew closer only to find herself hitting the wall. Hisoka only smiled wider at the obvious fear Azalea was displaying as he moved right up into Azalea's personal space and leaned forward to scent Azalea's hair. He then reached out to run a finger down the side of Azalea's face to Azalea's neck where he tapped one of the fading love bites that Kurapika had left near the base of her neck.

"Oh my, someone's been a naughty little mouse," Hisoka whispered as he gazed down at Azalea with lust filled eyes. "I will allow it, for now, but don't get too attached to your little playmate because you belong to me. One way, or another, when the time is right and you've grown just a little more; you will be mine. In the mean time, I'll do you the favor of returning your hat to you. There's no need to thank me, my little mouse; I'll collect the favor you owe me another time."

The man then pressed a kiss to the corner of Azalea's mouth before he set the hat on Azalea's head and walked away as the walls blocking the hallway vanished. The moment the redhead was gone, Azalea yanked the hat from her head and threw it down the hall as her knees gave out from under her and she slid down the wall. She spent the next ten minutes scrubbing her face raw to get rid of the feeling of Hisoka's lips on her skin while she stared at the hat as if expecting it to rear up like a viper and strike her any second.

Azalea then drew her legs up against her chest, wrapped her arms around them, and buried her face against her knees as she began trembling with anger and fear. She was angry with herself for completely losing track of her surroundings after her meeting with Chairman Netero and for allowing Hisoka to catch her off guard. At the same time, she was terrified of what Hisoka had been implying with his parting words. She was also more than a little disgusted with herself for freezing in fear and for making no attempt to avoid that wretched kiss that Hisoka had given her. Her stomach churned just thinking about the utter wrongness of that kiss.

Gon and Kurapika found her still sitting there an hour later as she sat with one cheek resting on her knee and stared at her hat without seeing it; Gon had followed the scent of the burn cream that had been smeared on Azalea's right hand and her blood (from her monthly flow, not that Gon knew that). Gon stopped to stare at the hat in confusion while Kurapika walked up to kneel in front of the witch; the blond unknowingly blocking the hat from Azalea's line of sight and drawing her attention.

"Did something happen, James? We've been looking for you for hours."

"I talked to Chairman Netero for hours," Azalea replied slowly once her brain managed to fully process the question she had been asked. "He wouldn't let me leave until I answered all of his questions. I think I told him more than I wanted to but once I started I couldn't stop. I wish he'd made me stay and talk longer. Maybe then the world wouldn't have gone mad."

"What are you talking about, James?" Kurapika demanded with a frown at the same time as Gon asked, "Hey, James, how did your hat get here?"

"Hisoka returned it to me."

"Did he attack you?" Kurapika asked urgently while Gon scowled fiercely and clenched his fists.

"I wish he had… it certainly would have been far more preferable to what he did."

"What did he…?"

"I don't want to talk about it right now," Azalea stated as she cut off Kurapika's question.

"Okay, it can wait until you're ready," Kurapika replied after he studied Azalea for a long minute. "In the mean time, you missed supper and you need to eat something."

Azalea allowed Kurapika to pull her up onto her feet and lead her back to the dorm room they'd used earlier. Gon made to grab Azalea's hat for her but the witch told the kid to leave it; she refused to accept the debt that the hat represented and it would be a cold day in hell before she allowed herself to owe Hisoka any favors. As the three of them left the hallway, a pair of amber eyes glittered darkly with amusement in the dim light of the corridor before a manicured hand reached down and collected the abandoned hat.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>_Again, those of you who are reading my other HxH/HP crossover will note the similarities between this chapter and chapter 14 in Hunter x in the x Making; though there are notable differences as well. Most notably in the way Azalea/Harry reacts to Hisoka. Of course, that difference stems from the fact that the Snake Charmer's trap played out differently in both stories since I was exploring different options for how the trap was set up and how each version of my Harry reacted to the traps.  
><em>

_Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. The next chapter should bring us to the Final Phase of the Exams, I think; it's hard to keep both of my stories straight in my head since they are so similar. All of my other stories don't help but getting these up and out of the way does since it means I'm not longer fiddling with the chapters that have been posted. ~ Jenn  
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	16. Persistence x and x Penalties

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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><p><span>Chapter Sixteen: Persistence x and x Penalties<span>

It took three and a half days for them to reach their final destination; a rather luxurious hotel that was owned by the Hunter Examination Committee. During the course of their flight, Azalea spent most of her time brooding and while she made no attempt to distance herself from her companions; she also made no attempt to interact with them. She also shied away from Kurapika's advances as the memory of her encounter with Hisoka haunted her; she feared the clown costumed psychopath would harm the seventeen year old the moment Hisoka discovered that Kurapika was the one to have left the love bites on her neck.

The only reason Kurapika didn't push Azalea or grow angry with her was because the blond had quickly realized that Azalea's sudden skittishness had everything to do with her encounter with Hisoka (despite Azalea not saying a word to him). The older teen also hadn't missed the hungry looks that Hisoka would cast in Azalea's direction any time the two of them were in the same room; a look that reminded Kurapika of a cat hunting a mouse.

In an odd turn of events, Azalea was the first one to exit the airship the moment they touched down; the witch desperate to get away from Hisoka and to search for her absent familiar. When two sharp whistles didn't bring the owl down out of the sky, Azalea truly began to fear that something had happened to her beloved companion. She therefore dragged her heels when all of the applicants were ushered through the door of a large open ballroom where the Final Phase of the Exam would be held.

At the very last second, just before she stepped through the door, Azalea was bombarded from behind by an over exhausted Hedwig carrying a rather large box in her beak. The witch gave out a cry that was half joy and half shock as she took in her filthy and ragged feathers; pleased that her familiar was both alive and back with her but worried that she'd been seriously hurt. She completely ignored everyone else as she rushed into the room with her owl cradled in her arms and skidded to a stop just inches away from Netero.

"Please, sir; is there a vet or someone that can take a look at Hedwig? I'm worried she's been hurt again."

Netero glanced down at the practically unconscious owl in the witch's arms before he signaled for one the uniformed men standing around the edge of the room to approach. "Masta, please see to it that this young man's companion receives the much needed care that she requires. James, you can trust Masta to deliver your friend into the hands of someone who can help her; please go ahead and relieve your owl of her burden and let him take her."

"Thank you," Azalea breathed in relief as she coaxed Hedwig into releasing her hold on the twine that was secured to the package. "You can let go, beautiful; you did a good job and now it's time for you to get some rest. I'll come see you as soon as I'm finished here and I'll bring you plenty of bacon. Good girl, Hedwig; you're bloody brilliant and I bet you're still the fastest and bravest owl in the entire world."

Hedwig gave a snuffling bark as she weakly nibbled at her fingers and Azalea leaned down to kiss her beak before she gently passed her to the bulky man looming beside her. As she let go of her friend and familiar, Azalea firmly instructed, "If you offer her food, she prefers frogs and wild shrews. Whatever you do, don't let her see any rats; she doesn't like rats and if you offer her one she'll take offense and the mess she'll leave behind won't be pretty."

"I'll be sure to pass the message along to the vet on duty," Masta solemnly promised even as his lips twitched upwards with amusement over her instructions.

"Thank you; I appreciate you watching over her for me."

Azalea clutched the package Hedwig had carried to her chest as she watched the man carry Hedwig out of the room; her heart still firmly lodged in her throat as she prayed her faithful friend would be alright. She actually took a single step after the pair as the urge to follow them rose up inside of her. Netero gently pulled her back, turned her around, and gave her a push towards the other applicants that were all watching her with varying degrees of amusement, concern, or contempt. Azalea took offense to those that held her in contempt over her worry about her owl and she drew herself up to her full height as she gave them a Snape worthy level three sneer, the one that says; you have no right to judge me when you are too stupid to comprehend all that I am.

She then tucked her package beneath her arm and stalked across the floor with the grace of a prowling tiger as she held her head high. Her footsteps only faltered once when she saw the licentious grin on Hisoka's face but she quickly recovered and stubbornly thrust her chin out and switched to a level six sneer, the one that said; you are unworthy of the notice I would give to something I just scraped off the bottom of my shoe. It was probably reckless of her to goad the psychotic man but Azalea had just regained a measure of confidence with the return of Hedwig.

The witch fell into line between Gon and Kurapika before she spun around to face Netero. She wiped all emotion from her face at the same time; shoving her worry about Hedwig and her fear over what the box beneath her arm contained to the far depths of her mind as she gave the chairman her complete attention.

"I would like to offer my congratulations to all ten of you on making it this far. This year's Final Phase will consist of a one-on-one tournament," Netero explained as he pulled the sheet from the presentation board that had been wheeled into place beside the man.

"So it is only possible for one person to pass?" Leorio asked with no little concern as he eyed the chart.

"No. All you need is one win to pass," Netero countered. "The winners of each match will be removed from the competition while the losers advance to the next stage until there is only one person remaining. In other words, the last man standing will be the one who does not pass this year's Exam. The rules of engagement for the matches are quite simple; weapons are allowed and the moment your opponent concedes defeat, you win. However, if you kill your opponent, you will be immediately disqualified and all of the remaining applicants will automatically pass. Are we clear?"

Several of the other applicants muttered under their breaths but Azalea ignored them as she stared at the pyramid of lines drawn on the board as a buzzing noise filled her ears. She felt more than a little sick to her stomach over the thought that she'd have to fight one or more battles in order to have a chance to win just once. A shiver ran up her spine as Netero then pulled the tape from the bottom of the board to reveal the match ups for each fight. The ten of them had been split evenly into two groups with each group facing one or more of the other members in the group before the last remaining member of each group faced each other in the final fight.

From left to right, the order went as follows; number two-ninety-four (Hanzo), three-fifty-six (Gon), fifty-three (Pokkle), ninety-nine (Killua), three-oh-one (Gittarackur), three-fifty-seven (Azalea), three-fifty-four (Leorio), one-ninety-one (Bodoro), three-fifty-five (Kurapika), and forty-four (Hisoka). The first two on either end would face each other first with the loser facing the one immediately beside them as they moved towards the center; meaning that Azalea would be the last one on her side to face whoever lost the first three fights between the other four whose names were on the same side of the chart as hers with Gittarackur in the same position in the other group.

At most, Azalea would have to fight twice; the least number of opponents and the least number of chances of passing.

Azalea wasn't thinking about that right now though, no, she was staring at the photos of the two people she'd least like to fight; Hisoka and Kurapika. The two of them would be facing off first in their group which meant that there was a high chance that she'd have to face off against one of them. She wasn't as worried about facing Leorio but that didn't mean she wanted to fight the taller teen either. Still, she wasn't really focused on her potential opponents; not when Kurapika would be facing off against Hisoka.

"Kura…?" Azalea whimpered softly as she jerked her eyes up to look at the blond standing beside her.

"I'll be fine, kitten," Kurapika assured her in a low voice.

Azalea frowned but said nothing further as Netero announced the start of the Final Phase; the first match pitting Hanzo against Gon. She dropped her eyes to the floor as she followed the other applicants off to one side so that the floor would be clear. The next three hours sent Azalea spiraling through a series of flashbacks as she watched Hanzo beat the crap out of Gon while the twelve year old stubbornly refused to quit despite how much pain he was in. She'd suspected that Gon had the heart of a Gryffindor ever since she'd first met him but watching him now just reinforced that image as his refusal to back down and quit reminded Azalea of each and every time she'd faced Voldemort or another situation where the cards were heavily stacked against her.

That didn't mean that Azalea enjoyed watch the ninja beat the tar out of the pre-teen and by the time the fight was over, and Hanzo had quit in frustration, Azalea's eyes were glittering with traces of gold as her magic thrummed in anger and concern just below the surface of her skin. Azalea wasn't the only one that had been affected by the terribly one-sided fight, Kurapika's eyes had turned scarlet more than once and Leorio had practically been breathing steam in his anger. Both of them had calmed down after Gon had kicked Hanzo in the face but they hadn't completely let go of their anger.

"Hold this for me, please, Kura," Azalea asked softly as she pushed her unopened package into the blond's hands before she stepped out of the line to quickly make her way towards the now unconscious twelve year old while Hanzo addressed the Chairman in order to make certain that Gon couldn't refuse his license once he regained consciousness.

Azalea reached the unconscious twelve year old before the medical staff that had been monitoring the fight and she didn't hesitate to kneel down and gently collect Gon from the floor. Standing back up was a bit difficult, since the pre-teen was just as tall as she was and a good deal heavier but Azalea managed as best she could as she cradled him against her chest and returned to Kurapika's side. She passed Gon to Leorio so she could dig out her Healer's Kit, a sleeping bag, and a pillow before she asked Leorio to place the boy onto the sleeping bag and help her set Gon's broken arm.

Kurapika hovered over them for a moment before he placed the package he'd been holding for Azalea on the floor next to her Healer's Kit as he headed off to fight Hisoka. Azalea paused what she was doing just long enough to tell Kurapika to be careful before she returned to feeding the unconscious pre-teen a series of healing potions that would speed up the healing process and reduce his pain. Once she'd finished doing what she could for Gon, Azalea packed her kit and her package into her book bag and calmly sat running her fingers through Gon's hair (a silent offer of comfort) while she turned her attention to the fight taking place in the center of the room.

She looked up just in time to see Kurapika get kicked in the face and Azalea clenched her teeth as she uttered a soft whine of concern. Her heart then rose up to lodge itself at the back of her throat as Hisoka glanced her way before whispering something to Kurapika. The moment Hisoka gave up after delivering whatever message it was he gave the blond, Azalea's worry increased as Kurapika stood frozen in the center of the room for a long minute before he was prompted to return to the sidelines so that the next fight could begin. This time Hanzo was facing off against Pokkle but Azalea could care less as her entire attention was on the obviously shaken blond.

Azalea's eyes darted towards Hisoka for a brief moment and found the man staring at her with a lustful, knowing smirk before the man pointedly glanced towards Gon, whose hair Azalea was still petting. Azalea furrowed her brow as she glanced between Gon and Hisoka several times until she realized that Hisoka thought that Gon was the one Azalea was involved with because of the way Azalea had rushed to the kid's aide and the way she'd been instinctively comforting the unconscious twelve year old. The sixteen year old paled before she grew angry at herself as she realized that she'd just inadvertently painted a huge target on Gon's back and she let out a hissing growl that startled those that were standing close enough to hear her.

"What's wrong, James?" Kurapika asked in concern as he was finally snapped out of his stupor by the sound of her growl.

"Hisoka is going to target Gon because of me," Azalea replied in a low voice as she deliberately began buttoning up her dragon-hide cloak; she suddenly felt unprotected. "Because of the way I reacted when Gon got hurt, he thinks… he thinks me and Gon are… that Gon was the one… Merlin, Kura, I never thought that my efforts to protect you would end up hurting Gon!"

"Hisoka was already causing trouble for Gon," Kurapika stated softly as he dropped a hand on Azalea's shoulder. "Gon had more than one run in with Hisoka over the course of the Exam; the most recent one during the Fourth Phase. We can warn Gon once he wakes up so that he'll know to be extra careful if he faces Hisoka again."

By the time they finished that hushed conversation, Hanzo had won against Pokkle and Hisoka was facing off against Bodoro. Azalea scowled as she watched the rather one sided fight until the older man conceded defeat to Hisoka and Azalea sighed as she sagged back against Kurapika in relief; Azalea wouldn't have to face Hisoka. It was then Killua's turn and the white haired youth immediately quit his match as he declared that he held no interest in fighting Pokkle. Leorio should have gone next against Bodoro but the long-legged teen requested that the older man be given more time to recover from his fight with Hisoka; in order to give the man a fighting chance.

When Leorio's request was granted, Killua returned to the floor to face Gittarackur and it was at that point that the Finals turned truly ugly. It turns out that Gittarackur was actually Illumi Zoldyck; Killua's older brother. The mind games that Illumi then proceeded to play with Killua pissed Azalea off far more than anything Hanzo had done to Gon. To hear Killua's brother belittle Killua's desire to have friends and claim that the twelve year old was nothing but a killer pissed Azalea off because it reminded her of the Dursley's telling her that she didn't deserve love or friends because she was a freak. It also reminded her of the taunts that Voldemort and his various Death Eaters had thrown Azalea's way each time they faced off.

Illumi then promised to kill Gon to free Killua from his weakness and Azalea's fury shot through the roof. Illumi took one step towards Gon and Azalea surged to her feet and let out another hissing growl that her magic magnified and the tall, long-haired teen actually paused in surprise while the rest of the room eyed her with wariness or interest. Illumi caught her gaze an instant later and immediately changed tactics as he pretended to suddenly remember that killing the other participants would disqualify him so he turned away from the enraged and highly protective witch to continue his mind games with Killua until Killua surrendered.

Azalea felt a rock lodge itself in her stomach as she watched the normally rambunctious and cunning twelve year old robotically stagger back to the sidelines with dead eyes after the fight. There was something terribly familiar about the look in the pre-teen's eyes and Azalea couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible was about to happen. Instead of watching Leorio's fight start, now that Bodoro had recovered somewhat, Azalea continued to watch the silver haired kid standing just a few feet away from her; the sense of _wrongness_ she felt growing with each ragged breath Killua took.

Just seconds after the fight started, Killua appeared to briefly struggle against himself before he took a single step forward and in that moment Azalea recognized what it was that was bothering her; Killua was displaying all the signs of someone who'd been placed under the Imperius Curse (much like Crouch Senior had in her fourth year). Needing to stop the boy before he did something he would regret; Azalea darted forward at the same time as the younger boy stopped struggling against what he was being forced to do. Her magic flared gold around her for a split second as she slid through time and space in her desperation to place herself between Killua and Bodoro as the twelve year old attempted to kill the older man.

Pain exploded in Azalea's chest as Killua's sharpened fingernails cut through the Horntail hide cloak she wore and into her chest directly over her heart as she wrapped the twelve year old in her arms before her feet hit the floor (the witch had reappeared high enough off the floor to block the blow that would have killed Bodoro. Several cries of shock and confusion rang out as blood splashed onto the floor beneath the pair but Azalea ignored them as she gazed into Killua's empty blue eyes and began desperately speaking to the younger boy.

"Fight it, Killua; damn it, don't let him win! Fight it! You are stronger than this!" Azalea urged before she coughed up a bit of blood. "Don't listen to him. Don't give up. He's wrong… they're all wrong. No one can force you to do anything against your will if you trust in yourself. Never give up. _Fight it!_"

Azalea began growing cold as she sank heavily to her knees, pulling Killua with her as she refused to release the younger boy, and her magic faltered in its struggle to keep her alive. She could feel her entire body shaking in shock as her heart struggled to keep beating around the tips of Killua's fingernails that had pierced it when the boy's hand had stabbed through her cloak and chest. She struggled against the feeling though, desperate to free the twelve year old from what she thought was the Imperius Curse. She coughed up a bit more blood as she took a couple of ragged breaths in the hopes of staving off the blackness that was creeping into her vision before she focused on the child in her arms once more.

"Push him out, Killua; you need to fight it. Don't let him win. You have friends that need you," Azalea whispered as she weakly stroked the boy's hair. "Gon needs you because he's too trusting. Leorio needs you because he's too uptight. Kurapika needs you because he doesn't laugh enough. And I need you to keep me on my toes so that I don't get too full of myself."

Killua gasped an instant later and jerked back in shock as he finally registered where he was and what he'd done. He then cried out in horror when he saw the blood trickling down Azalea's chin and flowing freely down her cloak to pool on the floor beneath them. He cried out again when he saw the blood on his hand before he grabbed hold of Azalea and clung to her while crying, "No! No, James! You can't die! It wasn't supposed to be you! No, please don't die. I never wanted to kill you! You always annoyed me but I still respected you."

Someone pulled Killua away from Azalea at that point and she felt several hands pushing her down onto her back on the floor. She tried to tell the twelve year old that everything would be alright but her mouth didn't seem to want to work properly any more. Azalea caught a glimpse of blurry faces hovering over her as someone began putting pressure over her wounded heart but she was having trouble focusing on any of them. The last thing she saw before the blackness claimed her was a pair of scarlet eyes and Azalea couldn't help but think she much preferred to see those eyes filled with angry fire than with icy fear before she knew no more.

Awareness returned sometime later and Azalea was less than pleased to find herself standing beside a familiar veiled arch in an abandoned amphitheater that looked to have been made entirely out of clouds; though she was thankful that she was no longer in any pain. Nestled beside the arch was a wriggling bundle that filled her with absolute dread as it reminded her of the demonic child thing that had been Voldemort before Pettigrew had dropped the Dark Lord into the rebirthing potion. In order to avoid thinking about the graveyard and Cedric's sightless eyes, Azalea averted her eyes from the thing beside the Veil and moved away from the arch.

She then began wondering how she ended up in the Department of Mysteries since the last thing she recalled was watching Killua's match against his brother, discovering the pre-teen had been caught in someone's Imperius Curse, and throwing herself between Killua and his intended victim. The obvious conclusion that she must have died didn't produce the blind panic that it probably should have; only a sense of freedom as the knowledge that the weight of the prophecy couldn't touch her now filled her being. She was just contemplating on whether or not she should go looking for her parents when someone addressed her.

"You shouldn't be here, little fawn," a familiar and much missed voice declared with more than a little regret.

Azalea spun around in hope and shock to stare at a much younger looking Sirius Black, "Padfoot?"

"The one and only," the Sirius look-a-like declared as he held his arms wide and gave Azalea a cocky grin she only ever remembered seeing in old photographs of her godfather from before his stay in Azkaban.

"How do I know you're not an imposter?"

"Oh, Mad-Eye would be proud of you, fawn!"

"Yeah, and then he'd yell at me for not questioning you sooner," Azalea groused as she scowled at the man that looked like her godfather. She then narrowed her eyes to ask, "What was the song you kept singing just to annoy Mrs. Weasley during the second Christmas we spent at Grimmauld Place?"

"First of all, we only ever spent one Christmas together at Grimmauld Place and secondly, I was singing God Rest Ye Merry Hippogriffs to annoy Kreacher, not Molly, because the blasted elf was still upset with me for putting Buckbeak in Mother's room."

Tears pricked the back of Azalea's eyes as she threw herself across the distance to hug Sirius (the man had just proven beyond a doubt that he was actually who he appeared to be) as she choked out, "I knew that and you knew that but an imposter wouldn't have known that."

"You've definitely spent way too much time around Mad-Eye," Sirius laughed as he hugged her in return. "Not that I'm not happy to see you again but what the hell are you doing here, kiddo? Why aren't you out there snogging the daylights out of a certain red-haired, blue-eyed wizard? You weren't supposed to die yet; you know that right?"

"I didn't plan on dying; I just overestimated the abilities of dragon hide to stop sharp pointy objects. I couldn't just stand there and do nothing though; he wasn't in his right mind. Someone was controlling him. And what redhead are you talking about?"

"Graphorn hide makes far better armor than dragon skin if you're going to be playing with sharp, pointy objects," Sirius absently pointed out as he let go of Azalea and held her at arms length. "And what do you mean what redhead am I talking about? Haven't you and Ron been an item since the middle of your fourth year? I'm certain that I recall that boy mentioning that the two of you were dating more than once during the summer holidays before your fifth year."

"No, I was never dating Ron; he's always been like a brother to me. And no, I wasn't dating Horatio either as he's been just as much of a brother to me as Ron," Azalea countered as she half scowled and half pouted up at her godfather. She then grew pensive as she wondered whether or not Sirius would be disgusted with her if she admitted she'd been kissing a muggle; the witch uncertain just how much of the pureblood dogma her godfather followed. There was also the fact that she wanted to do far more than just kiss Kurapika. "I'm not dating any one at all."

"What was that look for? And surely there must be some boy out there you like?"

"I'm worried about disappointing you."

"Why would I be disappointed in you?"

Azalea shrugged and scuffed her foot on the ground nervously as she muttered, "Because I've been kissing a muggle boy I just met a few weeks ago."

"Oh? Do tell? What's this boy like? Is he tall, dark, and dashing like yours truly?"

"That's it? You're not mad because he's not a wizard?"

"Why would I care whether or not he was a wizard? Hell, I dated my fair share of muggle birds between terms when I was still attending Hogwarts; drove my mother up the wall."

"Oh."

"So, tell me what he looks like already," Sirius ordered imperiously when Azalea didn't say anything more.

"I swear you're a bigger gossip than the girls in my dorm," Azalea complained before rolling her eyes when Sirius just grinned at her expectantly. "Oh fine, Padfoot; he's a year older than I am and he's at least half a foot taller. He's slender but not scrawny and he's rather athletic with blond hair and deep brown eyes. He can be playful at times and he likes to tease me but most of the time he's rather serious. He's an orphan, like me, and he is actively hunting the people that murdered his family and village."

"Just how serious are things between the two of you, little fawn?" Sirius asked after taking a moment to digest what she'd told him.

"We're not even in a relationship, Sirius; he's committed to avenging his family. He told me flat out that he was only interested in a physical relationship with me but that would be it."

"So he's just using you for sex? And you're letting him?"

"No, he's not; we've only kissed a few times. And while he did walk in on me when I was changing once, he didn't try to take advantage of me or anything. He doesn't even know I'm a girl! I've been passing myself off as a boy so I could find someone to train me because Dumbledore never bothered to train me even though he knew that the prophecy said I was the only one that could defeat Voldemort. And… and so what if I was? Would it really be so terrible if I gave myself freely to someone that makes me feel alive instead of waiting for some Death Eater to rape me? Would you hate me if I told you that I didn't want to save myself for some imaginary husband that I may never have?"

"Oh, sweetheart; I could never hate you," Sirius adamantly declared as he wrapped her in his arms once more. "Nor can I fault you for your fears and desires; I'd be a hypocrite if I did. And while I would much rather you wait to have sex until after you got married, so long as you don't rush into anything and end up regretting your choices, then that is all that matters."

"It doesn't really matter what I wanted to do anyway," Azalea quietly pointed out with a soft sniffle as she snuggled against her godfather's chest. "I'm dead now and I never got a chance to confess that I'm not actually a boy and he probably would not have wanted me once he found out I was a girl anyway. Do you know where mum and dad are? I'm really looking forward to seeing them now that I'm here."

"Ha, what's not to want regardless of whether you were born a boy or a girl; any man should feel honored to have gained even a fraction of your attention!" Sirius boldly declared as he swung her around before he set her back on her feet and sighed. "All joking aside, little fawn; you do know that you can't stay, don't you?"

"What do you mean I can't stay? I'm dead."

"Yes, you are but you don't belong here. It wasn't your time and you are still tied to the prophecy."

"But… but that's not fair! You shouldn't have died either! So, why do I have to go back when you're still stuck here!? Why didn't you come back? I still needed you!"

"It was my time to go."

"No it wasn't! You were supposed to be safe so that we could be a family! You weren't supposed to leave me!"

"We still are a family, Harriet, and even though I died, we will always be a family. And no matter how much I hated leaving you, I couldn't stay; I was already dying."

"What are you talking about?"

"I was in Azkaban for twelve years and the constant exposure to the dementors during those twelve years damaged me physically, spiritually, emotionally, and magically. I was dying a little more each day and I selfishly never wanted you to know because I didn't want you to treat me any differently. I went to the Ministry that night for two things; I needed to make certain that you got out alive and I wanted to die a hero in your eyes instead of making you watch me waste away bit by bit."

"You've always been a hero to me, Sirius; at least that's how I saw you once I knew you weren't an insane, murdering psychopath out to kill me. Merlin knows I've got enough of those stalking me as it is. You gave me hope and once you were gone I felt so lost."

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry my death hurt you that deeply."

"Are you certain I can't stay with you?"

"I'm sorry, little fawn; you don't belong here."

"Can I at least say hello to mum and dad before I am thrown out?"

"I'm afraid not; they've long since moved on to their next great adventure while the grief you felt for me and the regret I felt for choosing to leave you to avoid a humiliating death held me here until you either joined me in death or until you accepted my death and let me go. Once you go back, I will finally be free to move on as well."

"And Moony…?"

"That old wolf has not passed through here so I'm pretty certain that he still lives."

"What happens now?"

"You walk back out the veil and return to your body and I get to go find Padfoot a few rabbits to chase."

"I still don't want to leave you."

"I know, but you still have a prophecy to face and a handsome blond to wrap around your dainty little finger."

"Can't I stick around to share a slice of treacle tart and a cup of tea before I have to go?" Azalea demanded as she grabbed hold of Sirius and hugged him for all he was worth even as the older wizard picked her up and carried her to the veil. The sixteen year old was set back on her feet a moment later as Sirius pulled himself out of her arms and held the teen at arms length once more.

"I wish you could but we're a bit short on tarts and teas here, in case you didn't notice," Sirius joked before he grew serious as he instructed, "Trust in your instincts, they won't steer you wrong. Trust in your magic, it answers to you and you alone. And above all, trust in your heart for that is where true strength lies. Also, I want you to know that I've always loved you as if you were my daughter and that I couldn't be prouder of you. I will always be proud of you, no matter what; even if you do decide to give yourself to your new friend without the benefit of a wedding band."

Azalea only had a second to take in the look of grief and regret that suddenly filled Sirius's face before she was shoved backwards into the veil. As she fell, a small part of her noted that all that remained of the horrid bundle she'd seen upon her arrival was a tattered blanket sitting in the middle of a black stain. Bright light filled her vision a heartbeat later as her chest exploded with pain once more and she wished she had enough air in her lungs to scream. The light vanished seconds later and she felt like she was rushing backwards through a dark tunnel as the pain continued to increase.

A seeming eternity later, she drew in a shallow breath that set her lungs on fire as the pain in her chest tripled. The second breath she took hurt even worse, though how that was possible, Azalea didn't know. The third breath brought with it her sense of smell and taste as it flooded her senses with the coppery scent of blood that left a bitterly sweet metal tang on the back of her tongue and if she could have, she would have gagged in response. After taking her seventeenth agonizing breath, her heart painfully lurched into motion once more and sluggishly began beating inside her chest.

Each beat of her damaged heart pushed at the blood sitting heavily in her veins until her blood began flowing properly and as circulation slowly returned to her extremities, every single nerve in her body began throbbing and burning in turns. Worse yet was the feeling that she no longer belonged in her body; every joint felt stiff, her bones felt heavy, her skin felt tight, and no matter how much she wished it, she could not move a single muscle. It didn't help that it felt like someone had stuffed her head full of rocks and filled the cracks with sand and molasses; making it difficult to even think.

Azalea lost count of how many breaths she'd taken when she finally found the energy to pry open her eyes and she thought maybe there was something wrong with her vision because all she could see was blue bisected with lines of red that had been splashed with blood. It took her a long time to realize that her face was pressed up against Kurapika's tabard and once she was aware of that, she became aware of the arms cradling her body, the fingers running through her hair, and Kurapika's ragged breathing beneath her cheek. Her hearing returned shortly after that as an endless ringing roar filled her ears before slowly receding until she could hear Chairman Netero's voice finish giving a short solemn speech.

"…the rules of the Final Phase; Killua Zoldyck has been disqualified for killing another applicant and the tournament is now officially over. Before we continue, I'd like to ask you to observe a moment of silence to mourn the loss of a young man who had great potential; may his soul find peace in the afterlife."

Azalea would never be certain if it had been her Marauder heritage speaking out at the time or if it had been her frustration over having just lost Sirius all over again but the moment Netero stopped speaking, she couldn't help but open her mouth to crassly retort, "Bugger that! Dying is overrated because the afterlife has a distinct shortage of pushy teens and treacle tart. Not to mention it's so not worth the pain they charge you as an entrance fee."

Chaos reigned for a second time that day as everyone once again rushed to Azalea's side and hands kept trying to pull her out of Kurapika's arms. She blacked out for a bit at that point and when she next came to, Azalea found herself tucked into a hospital bed with wires and tubes running every which way and an oxygen mask strapped over her mouth and nose; her entire body still feeling as if she'd spent several rounds boxing with the Whomping Willow. Tipping her head sideways, Azalea found a familiar blond sleeping propped up in the chair beside her bed and a soft sigh escaped her lips as she felt torn between relief at knowing she wasn't alone and grief over having been torn from her godfather once more.

Exhaustion soon pulled Azalea back under and she ended up sleeping for seventy-two hours straight; apparently, dying and coming back to life was extremely exhausting on top of being hard on one's body.

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><p><strong>AN:<strong> _Whew, this was a fairly heavy chapter to write back when I first wrote it. The end of the Hunter's Exam ended as it did in canon but with a twist since it wasn't Bodoro that died. Those of you who are reading my other HxH/HP crossover will see a few similarities in this chapter (Harry & Azalea's reactions to Gon's fight, Illumi's control of Killua, and the ability that allowed both versions of Harry to move through time and space). From this point forward there will be far fewer similarities between the two stories since this was a critical moment in both plots; though there will still be some. _

_One such similarity is in Harry & Azalea's abilities. However, even though the premise for their abilities is the same, there will be differences between them as I explored two different ways of using those abilities. They are also abilities that will be explained throughout the story (so please don't ask me questions about it). The consequences of Azalea's temporary death in this chapter will also be explored within the story. _

_In any case, I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter (and the foreshadowing) and I hope to have the next chapter up in four days as scheduled; providing I don't lose track of time again like I did on the 23__rd__. ~ Jenn_


	17. Assault x and x Recovery

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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><p><span><strong>IMPORTANT WARNING:<strong>

_The second half of this chapter contains a small scene involving molestation and is one of the reasons why this story has been rated M. If you feel uncomfortable reading about that sort of thing, then you will want to skip the second half of the chapter; I have marked it with a line break so that those that don't wish to read that part will know where it is safe to stop reading._

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><p><span>Chapter Seventeen: Assault x and x Recovery<span>

Azalea woke feeling weak and groggy but the pain in her chest had faded to a dull ache and her lungs no longer burned quite so badly with each breath she took. Her body still didn't quite feel like it belonged to her and her magic felt as if it had been suppressed but at least it no longer felt like she was dying all over again. Letting out a soft sigh that was amplified by the oxygen mask she still wore over her mouth and nose, Azalea tipped her head to the side and felt a flash of disappointment when all she found was an empty chair.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, kid; how are you feeling?" Dr. Mackle inquired as he walked into Azalea's line of sight just few minutes later.

Azalea stared at the doctor for several long minutes as she tried to think of the best way to answer that question without encouraging the doctor to poke her in tender and embarrassing places again. Eventually, she settled on a simple, "Sore."

"That's not entirely unexpected. Where exactly does it hurt?"

"My chest, mostly."

"Are you having any trouble breathing?"

"No, not any more," Azalea replied uncertainly before she frowned and added, "It still burns each time I take a breath but no where near as much as it did before. That's different than the deep ache I feel though."

"The pain in your chest is due to the fact that your heart had been pierced in five different places," Dr. Mackle explained as he sat down on the edge of Azalea's bed. "Your left lung was also pierced in two places and both lungs flooded with blood; which was partly why you'd had difficulty breathing before and why they still burn now. Technically, you should be dead. In fact, you were dead for eighteen minutes and seventeen seconds because you'd suffocated while bleeding to death and the placement of your injuries prohibited resuscitation. Your brain completely shut down; as did the rest of your body. We nearly lost you twice more during the twelve hours of surgery it took for me to repair the damage. It's nothing short of a miracle that you are somehow alive and that your brain wasn't permanently damaged."

"It's not a miracle," Azalea countered tiredly as she closed her eyes. "Surviving is what I've always done best; even against impossible odds and even when I would have rather died. I think I lost count of the number of times that I should have died somewhere around number seven or eight; and that was before I had made the decision to enter the Hunter's Exam."

"Kid, from where I am standing; it is a miracle," Dr. Mackle countered as he critically eyed the witch. "There were quite a few individuals that had been devastated when you'd initially been declared dead. Including the young boy that thought he'd killed you, the old man whose life you saved when you stepped in front of the attack that was meant for him, and the young man that dragged you to my Infirmary to fix your hand."

Azalea opened one eye to glance at the doctor but didn't say anything in response because there was nothing to say; the doctor was right, it was a miracle that Azalea had lived. The problem was that living meant being torn away from her godfather once again and it also meant that she'd been unable to escape the prophecy. On the plus side, it did mean that Azalea would one day see her friends again; both new and old.

"I see you understand, good; never forget that there are always two sides to every fence and that just because you don't care doesn't mean that everyone else feels the same way. Moving on, I'll be keeping you here for at least another week for observation; I want to make certain that no further complications arise before I start you on a light physical therapy regime. You'll be on strict bed rest for at least another week after that. Visitations during that time will be strictly limited in order to avoid placing any undue stress on your heart."

"Another week? How long have I been here?"

"Almost five days; you spent most of that first night in surgery, remained unconscious for another day after that, and then you slept for another three days."

"And the Final Phase of the Exam? Will I still be allowed…?"

"The Exam is over."

"Oh," Azalea replied flatly as she finally recalled hearing Netero say something to that effect when she'd first returned to the world of the living and tears pricked the back of her eyes as she realized she'd failed.

After everything she'd risked and all that she'd sacrificed, she'd not even gotten a chance to finish the Exam. It hurt far more than she cared to admit. She'd been so close. And now here she was with no wand, no license, and no chance to get the training she needed because of her injuries.

"Get some rest, kid; your body still has quite a bit of healing to do," Dr. Mackle ordered as he stood up to check on the various IVs that were feeding fluids, vitamins, antibiotics, and pain medications directly into her blood stream.

The next time Azalea woke up, she discovered that the oxygen mask and half of the wires and tubes that had been attached to her had been removed while she'd slept. She also found that she had a visitor in the form of Chairman Isaac Netero. A sense of shame filled Azalea the moment she caught sight of the old man sitting in the chair beside her bed and she swallowed thickly around the lump that formed in her throat as she turned away from the man.

"Good afternoon, young lady," Netero cheerfully greeted Azalea the moment he knew the witch was awake. "I must say that it is heartening to see that you are recovering from your untimely death."

Azalea glanced back at the man in disbelief over the man's rather blasé attitude over Azalea's short stint as a corpse and then the witch snorted in amusement as the man reminded her again of the Weasley twins, which in turn reminded Azalea about Hedwig's rather terrible state upon her return.

"Sir, can you tell me if Hedwig is alright?"

"Hedwig…?"

"My owl, is she alright? Was she hurt badly?"

"Ah, your owl is just fine; she was suffering from an extreme case of exhaustion and muscle strain. It will be a few more days before she's up to taking short flights and at least two weeks before she travels more than ten or fifteen miles but she will be fine."

"Thank Merlin; I was so afraid that I'd sent her to her death."

"You have five more minutes, Chairman Netero," Dr. Mackle interjected at that point as he walked in carrying a tray of food that he slid onto the wheeled table tray beside the bed before he used the bed controls to raise the top half of the bed into an up right position so that Azalea was sitting up. He then adjusted the height of the table and positioned it in front of Azalea so that the witch could easily reach the food and utensils on the tray. Just before he left, the doctor looked at Azalea and ordered, "I expect you to eat at least half of what is there, kid."

"I suppose that was my cue to get to the point, hmm?" Netero mused as he picked up a thin black portfolio with the Hunter's Association Logo embossed on the cover from the small stand beside Azalea's bed and presented it to Azalea with a brief flourish of his wrist. "Please allow me to be the first to congratulate you on passing the two hundred eighty seventh Hunter's Examination and officially welcome you to the Hunter's Association as a Hunter."

"I don't understand… I failed the task; I didn't fight in any matches."

"Killua was disqualified for killing another applicant and according to the rules; the remaining applicants passed the task and earned their licenses as a result."

"Bugger that! No one died!"

"That's not true, young lady; you died. And while you may be sitting here alive and well now; eight minutes after you threw yourself in front of Killua's attack, you were declared dead by the medical staff on hand. The committee originally wasn't going to award you your license due to your death, regardless of the fact that it apparently wasn't as permanent a condition as originally believed, simply because licenses are never awarded posthumously."

"Several of the remaining applicants protested on your behalf and made it perfectly clear that if you didn't pass, then they didn't pass. In fact, all eight newly promoted Hunters unanimously voted to award you a pass for the exam due to your selfless act in saving a fellow examinee and since you were technically still alive the committee had no choice but to submit. It helped that your performance throughout the first four phases of the exam was more than satisfactory."

Netero then pressed the portfolio into Azalea's hands, reminded her to eat her lunch, and admonished her to take it easy before he left; leaving the troubled witch alone with her thoughts. She didn't know how to feel about having passed the Exam so unexpectedly in the wake of everything that had happened after her wand had been destroyed. Sure, it's what she'd wanted and why she'd fought so hard but she almost felt as if she'd cheated because of the way in which she'd passed. She also didn't think it fair to Killua; especially since the kid had not been in full control of himself at the time.

After being prompted twice more to eat, Azalea drank a quarter of the thin soup she'd been given, ate half of the orange jelly, and drank roughly two-thirds of the watered down apple juice before her stomach protested. She then slept for several more hours before the doctor woke her up for supper; of which she ate just slightly more than what she'd managed during lunch. Before she fell asleep again after her second meal, Azalea finally worked up the courage to open the portfolio and was a little surprised when a greeting card sized envelope with her alias neatly scrawled across the cover slid out and fell on her lap.

Setting the envelope aside for a moment, Azalea peered inside the portfolio to find her official Hunter's Certification proclaiming her to be a Dark Wizard Hunter tucked into the left hand cover while on the right side was a pair of thick plastic cards about the size and shape of a credit card; her Hunter's License. She was a bit confused at first as to why there were two cards but soon noted that one had her full name on the front while the other one had her alias on it.

Azalea ran a finger over licenses and felt a wealth of emotion overwhelm her before she snapped the portfolio shut and turned her attention to the envelope that had fallen out. When she opened it, she found three things inside; a letter to her from Chairman Netero, a non-moving photograph, and an old Hunter's License. She read the letter first.

_James,_

_I am certain that you were less than satisfied with my answer when you asked me  
>what your great-grandfather was like but at the time you were not a Hunter and<br>most of the information regarding Hunters is considered classified; meaning that  
>most Hunters will not share information about other Hunters to anyone other than<br>a Hunter. _

_I'm certain that you, of all people, can appreciate the need for secrecy when it  
>comes to confidential information.<em>

_That said, I am not a heartless old man and I can understand your desire to learn  
>more about your family. Consider the photograph of your great-grandfather,<br>grandfather, and granduncle and his old license a congratulatory gift from me to  
>you for a job well done. <em>

_When time permits, I would also be willing to share a story or two about some of  
>the things your great-grandfather used to get up to when he was about your age.<em>

_Chairman Isaac Netero_

Azalea swallowed thickly as she reached down to grab the photo so she could see what her great-grandfather looked like. She sucked in a sharp breath as she immediately noticed the man's vibrant green eyes that looked so much like hers and her mother's eyes. Next she noted the man had dark red hair that was the same color as her mother's hair which he wore short in a military cut and a thick mustache and goatee that were equally red. Perched on his nose was a pair of armless glasses with rectangular lenses set in a brass frame.

In the picture, her great-grandfather was wearing what Azalea recognized as a dark bronze duelist's cloak because it had a similar cut to the dragon-hide cloak that Azalea had purchased just before she fled England. In his arms, he cradled a pair of small babies that he was presenting to the camera and Azalea felt her chest tighten as she took in the pleased half-smile her great-grandfather wore; it was a smile Azalea sometimes saw in the mirror. Flipping the photo over, Azalea read the small neat inscription that had been written on the back.

_Gregory Evans and sons  
>April 23, 1943<em>

Several tears trickled down her face as she realized that her great-grandfather must have died shortly after that photo had been taken as she clearly recalled Netero telling her that the man had died in nineteen-forty-three; meaning that her grandfather and granduncle had grown up without their father; just like Azalea had. Azalea reverently placed the photo back inside of the letter and tucked them both back into the envelope before she turned her attention to her great-grandfather's license.

She let out a soft laugh when she saw that the name on the license was 'Firebrand' as it implied that her maternal great-grandfather had had quite the temper. Something she knew that she and her mother both potentially shared with the man thanks to the precious few stories Sirius and Remus had shared with her about her mother. Her breath hitched a moment later when she noticed that her great-grandfather had also been a Dark Wizard Hunter (according to his license); just like her. There was something powerful in learning that she'd unknowingly followed in the footsteps of a man that should have played a big part in her life (wizards tended to live two and three times longer than muggles, after all).

She tucked the license back into the envelope with the letter and the picture of her great-grandfather and returned the envelope back to the portfolio where it would be safe and protected until she could place both license and picture into her photo album. When she drifted off to sleep shortly after that, she slept with both arms around the portfolio to protect the precious keepsakes it held inside and a tiny, satisfied half-smile on her face. She'd wake up an hour later when Dr. Mackle gave her another shot of morphine to deaden the pain again and the witch nearly panicked when she felt the drug suppress her magic as it flooded her system.

She said nothing to the doctor though for fear that someone would use that knowledge against her at some point in the future.

Two days after learning she'd passed the Hunter's Exam by default, Azalea was growing increasingly antsy due to the prolonged stay in the Infirmary, the physical restrictions she'd been placed under, the constant loss of her magic each time she was given more morphine, and the fact that not a single one of her companions had visited her since she'd regained consciousness. Not even the thrice daily physical therapy sessions she was now being given (to regain full use of her mostly healed right hand and prevent her arm and leg muscles from atrophying from disuse) could hold her attention for long.

The fact that the few people that did visit her (Chairman Netero, Satotz, and Menchi) constantly avoided answering her questions about where the others were only made it worse. Though Netero's stories about her great-grandfather and his debriefings on what her status as a Hunter now meant for her and the wizarding world helped distract her for a while.

Being transferred into a private room alongside a much recovered Hedwig shortly after lunch on her fourth day awake helped cheer her up immensely. Being able to see for herself that her feathered companion was going to be alright eased a little of her frustration and lavishing attention on the snowy owl was always soothing. The news that her belongings wouldn't be returned to her for another couple of days annoyed her because no one would tell her why they couldn't be returned (the witch unaware that Kurapika had taken them with him to protect them for her while she was confined to the Infirmary).

Good mood gone again, Azalea fell back to brooding as she felt abandoned and useless confined to a bed as she was without any news about what happened to Kurapika, Leorio, Gon, or Killua. She tried reading through the books she'd been given by the other Hunters but she hadn't been able to concentrate on anything; her mind worrying over what she'd done to make the others ditch her the moment the opportunity arose (part of her fearing that they'd learned she'd been lying to them about being a boy).

She would have tried chatting with Hedwig but the owl had slipped out to stretch her wings and do a little hunting around three in the afternoon. She ended up falling asleep after an early supper; the dose of morphine she was given at the same time to dull the pain pulling her under within seconds as it suppressed her magic.

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><p>She woke up to a darkened room in complete confusion some six hours later when she found her arms secured over her head, her hospital gown and covers both missing (only her knickers and her bandages preserving her modesty), and another, much heavier body intimately straddling her hips. Fear and anger lanced through Azalea the moment her eyes adjusted to the lack of lighting enough to recognize Hisoka's painted face staring hungrily down at her. Disgust filled her when the man reached up to caress Azalea's face and neck with one hand while his other hand slid back and forth across Azalea's bare stomach.<p>

"I was wondering how much longer it would be before you joined me," Hisoka purred with a grin. "I find myself quite impressed with you once more, little mouse. Can you imagine my surprise when I undressed what I thought was the little boy who caught my attention only to find a little girl in his place?"

"Get off of me and get the hell out of my room," Azalea growled angrily as she fought against the panic rising inside of her due to the vulnerable position she'd found herself in, the knowledge that Hisoka not only knew she was a girl but that he'd undressed her, and the fact that there was still enough morphine in her system to interfere with her magic.

"That is no way to greet your lover, little mouse," Hisoka admonished in an amused tone as he slid the hand on Azalea's face up to curl his fingers in Azalea's hair while the sharp fingernails of the other hand scraped roughly against her stomach; leaving behind five red welts. "

"You are not my lover and you will never be my lover," Azalea hissed back as she began struggling in an attempt to escape; choking back a pained groan as the effort set her half healed chest on fire.

She froze a heartbeat later as Hisoka let out a loud moan of pleasure and declared, "Feeling you writhe beneath me is every bit as delicious as I knew it would be, my little mouse."

"Let me go!"

"No, I don't think I will, little mouse. You have no idea how difficult it has been watching and waiting for them to move you into a private room so that I could reward you for your tantalizing performance during the Final Phase. The potent rage and lethal intent I could feel radiating from you during Illumi's match against his little brother was simply divine. I was most disappointed when you foolishly threw yourself in front of a fatal attack in order to save a weakling though; I will have to train that tendency out of you or you will soon bore me, my little mouse. Although, I must say, you looked utterly delectable laying on the floor in a pool of your own blood."

"You're insane."

Hisoka only laughed as he leaned down to nip painfully at Azalea's neck before he pulled back to whisper lustily in her ear, "It is so exciting to hear such glorious endearments fall from your lips."

The man then nipped and kissed his way up the side of Azalea's neck and jaw until his mouth covered Azalea's. The witch tried to turn her head to escape the unwanted kiss but the hand tangled in her hair prevented her from turning away. She clenched her jaw, pressed her lips tightly together, and fought the bile rising in the back of her throat as the man's tongue sought to enter her mouth. Hisoka's free hand reaching up to press against the half-healed incision on her chest had her gasping in pain briefly before she let out a muffled cry of distress as the man used her automatic response to the pain to invade her mouth.

Rage filled Azalea over the unwanted violation and she bucked against Hisoka in an effort to throw him off as her magic surged up inside of her to burn through the last vestiges of the drug flowing through her veins and turned her irises completely gold in response to her anger. She let out an angry growl as she felt Hisoka moan into her mouth and press himself closer to Azalea in response to the witch's attempts to break free. Azalea's magic retaliated an instant later, zapping the man with a powerful jolt of electricity. Hisoka broke the kiss as he let out another low moan of pleasure.

"Get off of me you sick bastard!" Azalea cried out in anger when the violent attack only served to turn the man on even more.

"I don't think so, little mouse; you've been teasing and tempting me for far too long," Hisoka replied as he reached down to stroke Azalea's bare thighs with both hands; his sharp fingernails once again leaving a series of painful welts across her skin. "I had originally intended to wait a little longer before I claimed you as mine but I find myself impatient now that I have you beneath me."

"Piss off you bloody tosser; I belong to no one, least of all you."

"Oh, how I love the way you keep playing hard to get, my little mouse; I do so love a good chase," Hisoka declared as he pushed himself up and sliced through the bandages on her chest to bare her half-grown breasts. "Fight me all you want, little mouse, it won't change the fact that you belong to me."

Azalea let out a cry of pain and disgust as he reached out to fondle her chest. Desperately, she twisted and kicked in an effort to push the creep off of her. When that didn't work, Azalea focused on her magic once more as she remembered how she'd burned Quirrell with nothing more than a touch and prayed it would work against creepy psychopaths as well as it had against the Voldemort possessed professor. Time slowed down as Hisoka's hands slid down her sides to grab hold of her underwear.

Azalea closed her eyes as she let out a sharp cry of denial in response and urged her magic to attack at the same time as the door to her room swung open and someone turned on the lights. Time sped back up an instant later as Hisoka moaned again as Azalea's magic burned every inch of his flesh that was in contact with the witch (giving him the equivalent of a second degree burn or a severe sunburn). Azalea cried out once more as Hisoka dug his fingernails into her hips and surged up to cover her with his body before he bit the side of her neck hard enough to draw blood.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" an angry and very familiar voice demanded and Azalea jerked her head sideways and opened her eyes in horror to find Kurapika and Leorio standing in the door staring at the scene in shock.

Azalea opened her mouth to beg for help only for one of Hisoka's hands to reach up and to press itself over her mouth as the man pushed himself up just enough to glance at the two standing in the door as he drawled, "My little mouse and I were enjoying a moment alone together before the two of you rudely barged in. If you don't mind, we'd like a little privacy; unless you'd like to watch?"

Azalea let out a choked scream that was smothered by Hisoka's hand at the thought of being trapped alone with the man for even a minute longer. A single tear slid down the side of Azalea's face as she saw a flash of anger and disgust cross Kurapika's face; the witch hurt that the blond appeared to have chosen to believe Hisoka's words. Infuriated by the fact that she'd been too weak to fight off Hisoka (completely ignoring the fact that she was still recovering from her brief brush with death) and beyond humiliated by the things the man had done to her, Azalea opened her mouth to bite down on Hisoka's hand hard enough to draw blood as she let out a feral growl that originated deep in her chest.

Hisoka jerked his hand free in surprise at the unexpected attack and sat up to stare into Azalea's angry gold eyes as Azalea snarled out an angry, "Get the hell off of me you lying bastard!"

Azalea then focused all of her remaining magic to attack whatever it was that was binding her hands (something she wished she'd thought to do sooner). She felt something shredding and tearing beneath her magic an instant later and she gave out a hoarse cry of triumph as she pulled her hands free and let the incantation for the Banishing Charm rise to her tongue as she thrust her right palm against Hisoka's chest. Just as she cast the spell, Kurapika's foot unexpectedly connected with Hisoka's face; the force of both kick and spell enough to send the man flying across the room where he dented the wall upon impact in addition to breaking his nose and splitting his lip.

Azalea took several ragged breaths and closed her eyes as a sense of relief washed through her now that the man was no longer touching her. She then began trembling as she was hit with the enormity of what had just happened and what had almost happened and she let out a strangled sob as she pressed her hands to her face. She let out a pained whine a split second later as pain lanced across her chest. The feel of cloth sliding against her naked flesh coupled with the weight of someone settling onto the bed beside her had her letting out a frightened cry as she violently twisted away from the presence of another so close to her.

"Easy, James, you're safe now; I won't let him touch you again," Kurapika murmured softly and Azalea didn't dare breathe as she turned her head to the side and opened her eyes to find the blond watching her with eyes of scarlet fire.

She tore her eyes away from the entrancing sight of Kurapika's rage filled eyes as shame filled her. Azalea was disgusted with herself over the fact that she hadn't been able to stop Hisoka sooner and the knowledge that Kurapika and Leorio had both witnessed her humiliation. Ignoring the growing pain in her chest, Azalea rolled the rest of the way onto her side, curled up into a ball, and fought to hold back the tears burning her eyes.

"Take good care of my little mouse for me, Kurapika," Hisoka ordered as he climbed to his feet, snapped his nose back into proper alignment, and wiped the blood from his face. "Just remember that she belongs to me and that I will return to claim what is mine when the time is right. And while I will tolerate your interference this time; I will not be as charitable should you interfere a second time. You should also warn her little practice boyfriend not to get too carried away as well. Enjoy your freedom while you can, little mouse."

Azalea let out a strangled scream that was half anger and half terror and pressed her face against her knees as she listened to Hisoka's footsteps leaving the room. A hand lightly settling against her shoulder had her tensing and cutting off a sharp whine as her breath caught in her throat.

"He's gone now, James," Kurapika murmured as the hand lightly squeezed her shoulder before withdrawing completely and Azalea took a shuddering breath and relaxed slightly. "Leorio, can you please track down Dr. Mackle?"

"Yeah, I can do that," Leorio replied dazedly just before a second set of footsteps exited the room.

Silence fell over the room not long after Leorio departed and Azalea feared she'd been left entirely alone (and therefore once more vulnerable and open to attack) until she felt Kurapika shifting beside her. Azalea felt a measure of relief before she began to fear that Kurapika was angry with her over what had happened as she recalled seeing eyes filled with scarlet fire staring down at her. The look of anger and disgust that she'd seen on the blond's face came back to haunt her at that moment and Azalea gagged on the rush of bile that filled the back of her throat.

"James…?"

"You must hate me now," Azalea muttered hoarsely into her knees once she'd swallowed the bile burning the back of her throat.

"I could never hate you, James," Kurapika countered as he shifted on the bed again before he gently began running his fingers through Azalea's hair. "Why would you think that I would hate you?"

"I saw the disgusted look you gave me earlier when Hisoka lied to you about… about… what he was…"

"Silly kitten, I was disgusted at Hisoka for implying that you were in any way enjoying his attention. I was also angry with myself for not being here to stop him from getting to you in the first place. What exactly happened, James? How did you end up…?" Azalea shuddered as she recalled waking up to find herself at Hisoka's mercy. "James…?"

"He caught me while I was sleeping," Azalea replied in a voice that shook. "I didn't wake up until after he'd stripped me and bound my hands. I don't have any idea how long he'd been sitting there just watching me or if he did more than just watch me before I woke up."

"What happened after you woke up?"

"I kept telling him to let me go and leave me alone but he wouldn't listen. Not even my magic lashing out at him made him stop. I think the pain of the attacks only served to encourage him. Nothing I did or said would make him stop and I felt so damn helpless and angry all at the same time."

"James, how badly did he hurt you? Did he tear anything?"

"He only scratched me with his nails a couple of times and I think he drew blood when he bit my neck. I don't know if he was the one that ripped my incision open or if I did when I was trying to get free. I just wanted to get him off of me and stop touching me. Merlin, Kura, just thinking about the feel of his hands and mouth on me makes me sick."

Azalea felt arms lifting her from the bed and she tensed until she found herself being held gently against Kurapika's chest as the blond pulled the sheets around to wrap them more securely around her before wrapping the witch in a gentle hug. Azalea let out a strangled sob as she recognized the offer of comfort for what it was and pulled her arms free of the blankets to wrap her arms around Kurapika in return as she pressed her face against the blond's shoulder. For the second time that night, the enormity of everything that had happened that night cascaded over her and this time Azalea didn't even try to hold back the flood of tears as she clung to Kurapika.

She had no idea how long she sat there bawling her eyes out as Kurapika rocked her back and forth while running his fingers through her hair before the storm of her emotions receded. Numbness settled over her as her tears slowly dried up and her whimpered cries faded to sniffles and soft hiccuped sobs while the pain in her chest gradually made itself known again. A few minutes later, she sat up a bit and felt a bit embarrassed as she realized she'd made a mess out of Kurapika's tabard as she'd gotten tears, blood, and snot all over it.

"I'm sorry I made a mess of your clothes."

"It's fine, kitten; don't worry about it," Kurapika insisted as he leaned back and searched Azalea's face intently. "Are you going to be alright, James?" Azalea shrugged listlessly as she glanced away from the older teen. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I don't know."

"Well, if you there is anything you need, anything at all, don't be afraid to let me know; no matter how silly or stupid you think it might be. Even if you think it might be unreasonable, okay?"

"Okay."

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><p><strong>AN:<strong> _First, let me apologize for how long it took me to get this chapter up. I'd written it months ago but never really felt satisfied with the scene where Hisoka takes advantage of Azalea. I actually toned that scene down from a near rape to the aggressive molestation it ended up as. The scene was more about revealing the sordid depths of Hisoka's character and about unveiling Azalea as a girl than it was about what might have happened if Kurapika hadn't shown up when he did.  
><em>

_And no, Hisoka isn't going to 'get away' with what he did even if he did walk away. The only reason why Kurapika didn't chase after him was because he was more worried about Azalea and Leorio froze up since he was stunned by both Hisoka's attack and by the revelation that 'James' was a girl. He (Hisoka) will be dealt with later in the story. _

_Anyway, those of you who are reading my other HxH/HP crossover will notice that there are a couple of slight differences between in the Gregory Evans's family at this point; with this story having him father a pair of twins and dying shortly after they were born while he only sired one child and died when his son was roughly three years old in the other story. That was intentional; I wanted the family to be a bit different since the abilities that both Harrys inherited from the Evans family are the same (the golden flash & sliding through time/space just one aspect of it). That will be explained in later chapters though; in both instances. _

_Well, I guess that is all I have to say for now. I will be posting chap eighteen tomorrow to make up for this chapter being late and it will pick up from where this chapter left off (basically dealing with the fallout from Hisoka's attack) and will set up the next arch of the story. ~ Jenn_


	18. Trust x and x Tests

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><span><strong>IMPORTANT WARNING:<strong>

_This chapter contains references to the molestation that occurred in the previous chapter but does not go into any details aside from listing the minor injuries that were received.  
><em>

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Eighteen: Trust x and x Tests<span>

The sound of someone knocking on the frame of the door had Azalea tensing in Kurapika's arms while the blond shifted so he could glance towards the door. She cringed and huddled in on herself when the blond verbally addressed the person.

"Come in, Dr. Mackle; I've been expecting you."

"The tall gentleman you sent to fetch me informed me that there had been an attack," Dr. Mackle stated as his footsteps slowly approached the bed and Azalea couldn't help but shiver over the idea of yet someone else knowing what had just happened to her. "How is she?"

"Still shaken but no longer in a panic," Kurapika replied as he shifted around a bit and glanced down at Azalea. "The incision on her chest was torn open again and I saw a number of bruises, a few scratches, and torn skin where she was bit but I believe that is the extent of her injuries."

"It is," Azalea added as she turned her head to warily watch the doctor as the man stopped beside the bed.

"I'm relieved to hear that, kid. How much pain are you in right now? Do you feel a deep pain in your chest or are you having any problems breathing?"

"My chest feels bruised and it aches a bit when I breathe but it's not that bad."

"Hmm, let's just take a peek see and see how much damage was done. If you'll set the kid back on the bed and step outside while I tend to her injuries, young man?"

"No!" Azalea cried sharply as a lance of fear pierced her at the thought of Kurapika leaving her alone and she twisted her fingers into Kurapika's tabard to hold him in place.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist on staying, doctor."

"I suppose I have no reason to object given my patient's insistence on the matter. You'll still need to set her down and move aside so that I can get to work."

Gold tinged green eyes brimming with panic glanced up to meet worried brown eyes for a moment. Kurapika then sighed as he lifted Azalea higher and pushed himself further up onto the bed before he spun around so that he was no longer sitting between Azalea and the doctor. The teen then set Azalea down on the bed beside him and untangled Azalea's hands from his tabard so he could sit up. Azalea let out a soft whine as she closed her eyes and made to curl up on her side.

"Easy, James, I'm not going any where and you need to let Dr. Mackle look at your chest," Kurapika murmured as he grabbed hold of Azalea's left hand and gently rubbed circles on the back of Azalea's hand with his thumb. "The sooner you lie down on your back and let him stop the bleeding, the sooner it will be over."

Azalea reluctantly complied with the gentle command as she took comfort from Kurapika's presence as the doctor adjusted the sheets just enough to bare the blood soaked gauze taped to Azalea's chest. The witch focused intently on the thumb still rubbing circles on the back of her hand as she felt the doctor removed the soiled gauze and she couldn't help but shiver as the tape tugged at her skin as it was removed. She thought she heard the faint snap of a camera being used but she forgot about it two minutes later as the sting of the doctor cleaning the blood away from her chest reminded her of Hisoka pressing down on her chest when he'd kissed her earlier.

Her eyes flew open and she gasped sharply as she jerked away from the stinging pain. She relaxed when she didn't see the redhead any where and she breathed a little easier when Kurapika squeezed her hand to remind her he was still there. As she turned her head to the side to look up at the blond once more, Azalea furrowed her brow as she recalled the fact that she'd not seen the blond for over four days and that she'd now been ousted as a girl. Her earlier irritation over the fact that no one would tell her where any of the others had gone returned and she couldn't help the scowl that pulled down on the corners of her mouth.

"What's wrong, James?"

"Why didn't you and the others come visit me? No one would tell me where any of you were after I woke up four days ago. And… and… how angry are you with me for hiding the fact that I'm a girl from you?"

"I went with Leorio and Gon to find Killua so that we could let him know that you were alive and make certain that he was alright," Kurapika answered as a pained expression briefly crossed the blond's face. "He'd become inconsolable the moment you were pronounced dead and he fled before any one could stop him. The rest of us stayed until we knew for certain that you would live through your surgery and then we immediately set out to retrieve Killua after bullying his brother into telling us where he'd gone. It took us far longer than we'd expected to see him though and he didn't want to believe us at first when we told him that you were still alive but Gon convinced him in the end."

"I saw Leorio earlier but where are Gon and Killua? They are here as well, right?"

"Killua couldn't bring himself to face you; he thinks you will hate him because of what happened. Gon stayed with him with the intention of trying to talk him into coming to see you at least once and to keep an eye on him since he was obviously still upset over what happened."

"It wasn't his fault," Azalea growled tightly. "Someone was manipulating him. He tried to fight it but whoever it was that got to him was too strong for him to fight on his own. I saw it in his eyes; that's why I threw myself in front of his attack. I needed to break him out of the spell because I didn't know how far the person controlling him would make him go."

"About that, why the hell couldn't you have just pushed Bodoro out of the way instead of using yourself as a damn shield?" Kurapika demanded as his hand reflexively tightened on Azalea's and his eyes flashed red briefly.

Azalea sighed and closed her eyes while she ignored the tugging sensation on her chest as Dr. Mackle replaced several stitches that had been torn free from the incision. After a moment she softly explained, "I didn't have time to think and plan; I acted the moment I saw Killua move and I fully expected my cloak to protect me. And I noticed you still haven't answered my other question."

"A piece of fabric can't protect you from a knife, James; and Killua can make his fingers as sharp as any knife!"

"Actually, my cloak can; unless the blade has been cursed or charmed. The cloak is not made from ordinary leather, Kura; it's made from the near indestructible hide of a dragon. Only the hide from a graphorn exceeds the protective qualities of dragon-hide. There's reason why I never took that cloak off; and it wasn't just because I thought it looked good on me. I had expected my cloak to deflect Killua's attack and it did to a point; he didn't rip my heart out of my chest, after all."

"I need you to sit up now, kid; so I can wrap you up now that I'm finished with your chest," Dr. Mackle interjected before Kurapika could respond to Azalea's declaration. Kurapika helped Azalea to sit up and was quick to shift the blankets to help preserve Azalea's modesty when they fell away from her. "Thank you, if you'll lift your arms up and out of the way for me now?"

That request was too much for Azalea as it abruptly brought back everything that had happened earlier (her mind immediately leaping to the feeling of her hands being bound above her head) and she would have bolted off the bed entirely if not for Kurapika refusing to let go of her hand. And while she knew intellectually that the doctor would not harm her, the emotional wounds she'd received were far too raw for her to push past her fears just yet. That and a large part of her didn't really trust any adult to protect her because far too many adults had hurt her during her life time.

"Please calm down, James," Kurapika instructed as he reached out to turn Azalea's face so that the witch was looking at him. "I'm not going to let anyone else hurt you." Azalea slumped against the older teen and took a shuddering breath as she tried to bring her emotions back under her control. "Dr. Mackle, if you pass me the gauze, I'll wrap up James's chest. Thank you, doctor. James, I want you to sit up and put your hands on my shoulders. Good, now relax and try to hold still while I take care of this."

Azalea clamped her eyes shut and fisted her hands in Kurapika's tabard as she tried not to whine as she felt the teen's hands sliding around and over her chest as he wrapped the gauze securely around Azalea's chest in order to hold the fresh squares of gauze the doctor had lightly taped over Azalea's incision in place. Tremors wracked her body every few seconds while her magic rose effortlessly to thrum just beneath the surface of her skin as it reacted to her emotions. Thankfully, it didn't take Kurapika long to finish and Azalea sagged in relief the moment the teen tucked the end of the gauze beneath the rest of the bandages before securing it with a strip of tape.

"I'm going to give you another shot of morphine now, kid," Dr. Mackle stated as he pulled a glass bottle of clear liquid and an unopened syringe pack out of his pocket.

"No! You can't!" Azalea cried as she twisted around to stare at the doctor in fear.

"Doctor, is it absolutely necessary?"

"No, it's not necessary but it will ease her pain and allow her to sleep while I check for any signs of forced entry. While I trust her word that things didn't reach that stage, I am obligated by law to carry out a thorough examination in the event that she wishes to press charges against her attacker. That means I will also need to photograph each one of her bruises and any other injury, no matter how small, that she might have received during the course of the attack."

"I don't care," Azalea blurted out as she leaned further away from the doctor and the needle he held in his hand.

"James…?"

"I don't want to be defenseless again."

"Are you certain you want to stay awake during the doctor's exam, kitten? It's not going to be very pleasant for you."

"I don't care… I just don't want him to make me sleep again."

"Very well," Dr. Mackle stated with a sigh as he reluctantly tucked away the morphine and unopened syringe. "But I'm warning you now; if you fly into a panic and tear open your incision a second time, then I will sedate you whether you want me to or not."

Azalea soldiered through the next hour in a state of near constant panic while forcing herself to cooperate with the doctor as the man completed the examination. That included sitting still through the visual and physical inspection of her body and while the bruises and teeth marks on her neck, the light scratches across her stomach, and small gouges on her hips were all photographed. Numerous fluid and tissue samples were also taken before she was given a partial sponge bath and the places where Hisoka had broken skin with his nails or teeth were cleaned, treated, and bandaged as necessary.

Throughout the entire ordeal, Kurapika held her hand and murmured soft reassurances that she wasn't alone.

Once the doctor finished, Kurapika helped Azalea put on a clean change of clothes and set her in a chair while the sheets and blankets on her bed were changed out. The seventeen year old then tucked the young witch back into bed and sat down in the chair to watch over Azalea after dimming the lights. That only lasted for a full five minutes before Azalea attempted to migrate off the bed and onto Kurapika's lap in search of comfort and security.

Azalea spent the rest of the night with her head pillowed on Kurapika's shoulder as he lay on top of the covers beside her while she fought to stay awake. Each time she found herself dozing, the sixteen year old would jerk awake with a startled cry and search the room fearfully for Hisoka before settling back down. It was an exhausting ordeal and when the witch finally fell into a fitful sleep around dawn, she tossed and turned as her dreams were haunted with nightmares.

She woke even more exhausted than she'd been when she could no longer keep herself awake and her appetite, which had barely been recovering after her temporary death, was non-existent. The only reason she forced herself to choke down a few bites here and there was because it was Kurapika asking her to eat; the witch not willing to go back on her word that she would follow the blond's instructions when it came to her training and her health.

Her mistrust of adults, particularly adult males, had also become decidedly more pronounced as she completely panicked at the mere thought of being left alone with any adult. On top of the increased distrust, she had difficulty sleeping at night out of fear of being attacked again. And lastly, unexpected touches (something that always bothered Azalea) would now send her into a panic attack and cause her magic to automatically lash out at the perceived threat.

Kurapika had only gotten shocked once before he learned to always make certain he had Azalea's attention before he touched her; something that was doubly necessary when Azalea was only half awake since that was when she felt most vulnerable. Dr. Mackle still occasionally forgot, the man had a rather one-tracked mind at times, and therefore he'd been on the receiving end of some rather painful and humiliating defensive hexes (more than half of it accidental) on more than one occasion.

Thankfully, most everyone was patient and understanding due to the ordeal she'd suffered through and so didn't take offense. If not for Kurapika, it probably would have been ten times worse as the teen's endless patience and constant presence helped keep Azalea grounded during the worst of the panic attacks.

After the rather stressful week following Hisoka's attack, Azalea was officially released from Dr. Mackle's care; her magic greatly speeding up the healing process once it was no longer being regularly suppressed by the morphine. She was ordered to take it easy for at least another two weeks and to avoid getting hit in the chest for at least another month or two. Azalea wasted no time in demanding her things be returned only to learn that Kurapika had had them the entire time and had been keeping them safe for her.

"What will you do now, James?" Kurapika asked as he watched Azalea gather up the few things she had spread around the room and toss them into her book bag; including her Hunter's Portfolio.

Azalea paused in her packing and glanced nervously over her shoulder before she tentatively replied, "I thought I was going with you… but if you don't want to be bothered with me anymore, I guess I can try and find someone else to train me. I guess I shouldn't have assumed… especially not after lying to you like I did…"

"James, I was never angry about you trying to pass yourself off as a boy and I can easily guess at the reasons why you chose to hide yourself the way you did. Knowing that you're actually a girl actually explains all of the little things that had been confusing me since the day we met. Such as why your voice always sounded a little too high, why you didn't have an Adam's apple, why you never seemed to move like a boy, why you seemed overly careful never to get too close to the other male applicants, why you never answered my question about the bandages around your chest, and why I suddenly found myself attracted to another male."

"I'm sorry…"

"Don't be; you did nothing wrong."

"But I…"

"It's fine; although it is a bit awkward calling you James now that I know you're a girl."

"James was actually my father's name," Azalea admitted with a shrug as she toyed with the strap of her book bag. "I had the choice using my father's name, my godfather's name, a friend's name, or using a shortened version of my first name but I never cared for my first name, so I went with my father's since everyone always told me how much I looked like him and I thought it would be the easiest one for me to remember to respond to."

"And what, if I might ask, is your name?"

After a brief hesitation, Azalea replied, "Harriet Azalea Potter; but most of my friends usually call me Azalea. You're welcome to call me whatever you want when we're alone but whenever we're in public I'd prefer that you keep calling me James; I still don't want to advertise who I am to the world at large, especially when I still can't really defend myself."

"I just can't picture you as a Harry," Kurapika mused as he studied her for a moment and Azalea laughed softly before she turned back to her packing. "And, just so you know, I don't mind you traveling with me and my offer to train you still stands; I just wanted to make certain that that was what you still wanted. I didn't want to presume and make you uncomfortable if you'd changed your mind; especially after what happened with Hisoka."

"I'd prefer to stay with you but I don't want to be a burden and if you're sick of me clinging to you…"

"You're not a burden and I didn't think you were being overly clingy. You were the victim of a sexual assault and to be honest, I'm surprised you didn't keep me at arm's length like you did everyone else."

"I trust you and you've always been honest with me. You're also only one year older than me."

"What does my age have to do with anything?"

Azalea met Kurapika's gaze with troubled eyes for a moment before she turned away and walked up to the window so she could stare out over the small courtyard garden her room overlooked. She caught sight of Hedwig sitting in a tree dozing and she watched the shadows dancing over her feathers for several minutes as she ordered her thoughts.

"Out of all the adults I've met and interacted with throughout my life, I can name on one hand the number of them that didn't cause me harm in some way, shape, or form; whether it was intentional or purely accidental," Azalea began hesitantly as she closed her eyes and pressed her head against the glass. "I know you know the bare basics of how my aunt and uncle treated me growing up; they took pains to make certain the rest of the neighborhood and the teachers at school treated me with contempt or indifference. As far as I know, everyone assumed that I was the troubled delinquent that the Dursley's painted me as and it hurt that none of them would look at me long enough to see the truth."

"The wizarding world was even worse. I have been verbally abused by more than one professor, I'd been attacked by several professors, and I've been ignored and chastised for trying to bring problems to the attention of several other adults and professors. Nearly every single major attack I have faced has been at the hand of an adult; whether or not it was an intentional attack or not. They've verbally cut me down, they've physically pushed me around, they've magically sought to kill, maim, or torture me, and they've sent me into situations that could kill me."

"The one woman that has attempted to mother me more often than not smothered me and ignored my needs and wants in favor of pretending that I'm a two year old in need of coddling. Of the men that could have been father figures of a sort; one treats me like I'm some sort of fascinating zoo exhibit half the time, one attempted to eat me on the night of the full moon and mostly avoids me now because of it, and the last one sought a quick death because he was already dying. And the man I looked up to and saw as a grandfather? He manipulated my entire life right up until the day I ran off and a part of me fears that he'd intentionally been keeping me weak in order to set me up as some sort of sacrificial lamb."

Azalea opened her eyes and glanced back at Kurapika as she finished, "So, age has everything to do with why I can trust you since it's been proven to me time and time again that I can't trust an adult."

"You do realize that I will be an adult in about three months, right?" Kurapika pointed out as he crossed the room.

"I know… such a terrible fate it is too, I'm mourning the day of your demise already."

"Cheeky brat."

"What can I say; I was cursed with the genes of a practical joker."

Kurapika laughed as he stepped up behind Azalea and pulled the shorter teen into his arms. Azalea tensed briefly before she relaxed back against Kurapika's chest with a soft sigh.

"Are you finished packing, kitten?"

"Almost."

"Hop to it then, we've got places to go and people to see."

"What a bossy blond you've turned out to be," Azalea groused as Kurapika spun her around and gently pushed her back towards the middle of the room.

"Ah, you've resorted to using annoying alliterations already have you? Hmm… if I were to reciprocate, would that mean you've become a whiney witch?"

"And you are obviously obnoxious."

"And you are purposefully procrastinating."

"Pushy prat."

"Babbling brat."

"Troublesome teen."

"Snarky sorceress."

"Persistent prat."

"You already used prat once, silly kitten."

"You used brat twice…"

"So I did but the first time was long before we started exchanging creative insults. Are you packed yet?"

"Yes."

"Then let us go say our goodbyes so we can leave."

An hour later, the two of them were tucked into the back of a cab headed towards the airport to catch a flight out of the country after saying goodbye to the chairman, examiners (Azalea making certain to glare at Lippo at least twice; the witch was still irritated with the man), Dr. Mackle, and Leorio (the latter heading home to apply for med school). Azalea pensively stared out the window while she stroked Hedwig's back as she thought back to Chairman Netero's parting words.

_You will cross paths with another Hunter soon and while he will be abrasive and demanding; he does not seek to harm you and he is a trustworthy man. He is also one of the few Hunters that are aware of who you are and what you can do._

"Jenny for your thoughts?" Kurapika offered after the silence had dragged on for more than half of the ride.

"Hmm?"

"I was wondering what it was you were worrying about, James."

"Oh, I was just thinking about what Chairman Netero said before we left."

"Ah, I should have guessed. Try not to let it worry you too much."

"I can't help it. I don't have a name or face to go with his warning and any one could claim to be the one I'm supposed to meet."

"You're forgetting something."

"Huh? What did I forget?"

"That you will not be alone and therefore he will be meeting both of us."

"Oh, right; sorry, I guess I'm just nervous."

"Understandable given the circumstances, I suppose."

"Do you think I'm overreacting?"

"No, but I do think you are focusing too much on only part of what Netero said; he said the man we will be meeting is trustworthy and that he means you no harm."

"My headmaster constantly swore up and down that he trusted Snivellus but that doesn't change the fact that the greasy dungeon bat was a bastard of the highest order and took perverse pleasure in insulting me, my intelligence, my abilities, my friends, and my father with petty and spiteful remarks designed to cut and tear."

"I understand that your past experiences influence the way you react in any given situation, which is as it should be since you will never grow if you don't learn from your experiences, but keep in mind that you should withhold judgment until after you've actually met the man. Be cautious and question his motives, by all means, but don't automatically label him as an enemy until he actually turns out to be one."

"Constant vigilance with a side of common sense," Azalea quipped with a soft laugh.

Mood lightened, Azalea spent the rest of the ride asking Kurapika about the various continents they could expect to visit while they were gathering information. It was the most relaxed Azalea had been since Hisoka's attack and it showed in the way she'd regained a measure of the easy going and slightly snarky personality she'd revealed off and on during the course of the Hunter's Exam. Sadly, it didn't last long as the witch felt on edge from the moment they entered the crowded airport due to the large number of adults that held no respect for another's personal space and the unshakable feeling that someone was watching her.

She calmed down a bit once they were on the airship that would deliver them to their first destination but she couldn't quite shake the feeling she had that they were being followed. Azalea might have feared that it was Hisoka if not for Satotz passing along the information that the redheaded psychopath had departed from the continent immediately after the attack had been interrupted. There was no news on exactly where the man had gone but there was very little chance that the man could be following them at the moment.

To help pass the time and avoid sinking into a panic attack over her own paranoia, Azalea sat curled up in her seat and meditated in order to work on taming the wild storm that was her magic as well as familiarize herself with the two animals that represented her inner nature. Kurapika watched over her during that time; making certain that no one snuck up on the witch while she was open and vulnerable to attack. Hidden behind a secret panel not far from where the two teens were seated, a man with an angular face, dark brown eyes, sparse mustache and goatee, and shaggy brown hair observed the pair intently.

Azalea heard Kurapika calling to her several hours later and she reluctantly resurfaced from her meditation to find that the airship had landed. She spent a few minutes stretching out stiff muscles before she gathered her book bag and lifted Hedwig from the chair she'd been sitting in; the snowy owl still needed a bit more time to recover from her exhausting round trip. As the two teens headed for the exit, Azalea paused briefly and stared right at the hidden compartment where their shadow had spent the trip watching them before she hurried to catch up to the blond; leaving behind a grinning Hunter.

The next three days were spent camping out just outside of the ruins of a long abandoned but still active city. During that time, Kurapika finally began Azalea's physical training; he started by adding a series of light calisthenics to the witch's daily physical therapy sessions and had her practice her carving on the various branches that they'd collected from Zevil Island. That was on top of Azalea's magical training which currently involved a substantial amount of meditation. Each night, Azalea crawled into her sleeping bag beside Kurapika's and slept the sleep of the exhausted as she cautiously pushed her body to its limits under Kurapika's supervision.

Azalea didn't have time to fear falling asleep during those nights as her nightmares were buried beneath pure physical exhaustion. In fact, Azalea slept easier during those nights since she finally felt that she was doing something. That she now had a chance to grow stronger. And that knowledge filled her with a burning determination that chased her fears away a little more each day.

On the fourth day, the two of them packed up their camp and headed into the city in order for Kurapika to visit an underground employment agency that catered solely to Hunters looking for work. Azalea didn't question the blond's need to find a job just as the blond didn't question Azalea's disinterest in taking a job. The only thing that Azalea had asked was what would happen to her the moment that Kurapika accepted a position; Kurapika promised that he would continue Azalea's training until Azalea needed to leave (no matter what job he ended up with).

From the moment they entered the near empty ruins, Azalea felt on edge as she once again sensed eyes watching her. It was a like a persistent itch just out of reach in the center of her back and she tensed and started at every little thing like a high strung horse. Kurapika tried to put her at ease with quiet assurances that everything would be alright but Azalea just couldn't shake the feeling that they were being stalked. The fact that Hedwig continuously shifted nervously upon her shoulder only reinforced that feeling as there was no doubt in Azalea's mind that the owl sensed their stalker as well.

By the time they were half way to their destination, Azalea's eyes were swirling with gold dust motes as her magic thrummed through her veins with each beat of her heart. Hedwig's amber eyes glittered just as brightly as she rode on her shoulder with her unwaveringly eyes glued to their unwanted shadow. Kurapika started growing antsy as a result because the blond was worried that Azalea would sink into a panic attack or lash out at an innocent while she was so unsettled.

The man trailing after them was both amused and concerned; amused because the witch could sense him while the more experienced blond could not and concerned because the witch was far too close to losing control.

They eventually came to a stop outside of a towering building in the very heart of the city and the two of them paused just outside of the entrance when Azalea softly ordered Hedwig to wait outside. Azalea then glanced back over her shoulder and growled softly (the sound originating deep in her chest) as her eyes unerringly landed on the building where she knew their stalker was hiding. Kurapika called her name and rested a hand on her shoulder in concern and Azalea reluctantly tore her eyes away from the one hunting them to follow the older teen into the building.

"James?"

"I don't like being hunted," Azalea growled softly in reply to the unspoken question she could hear in Kurapika's voice as they made their way down into the basement of the building. "I'm _not_ a mouse."

"No, you most assuredly aren't a timid little mouse, kitten," Kurapika agreed and Azalea felt a measure of her irritation recede as she let a secretive little half smile slip onto her face as she recalled just how true that statement was when her thoughts flew directly to her dual animagus forms. "I know that look; it's the same look you wore just before you hit Killua and Gon with those hexes while the three of you were rough housing during the final hours of the Third Phase. What are you planning, James?"

"Nothing," Azalea drawled out in a playful tone as the smile grew a little larger.

"Somehow that worries me even more," Kurapika retorted while Azalea snickered unrepentantly as she briefly glanced up at the taller teen walking beside her. They reached the door to the agency's office just a few minutes later and Azalea slowed to a stop several feet away from the door while Kurapika didn't hesitate to walk right up to the door. It took the blond a moment to realize that Azalea hadn't followed him and he paused in the open doorway to glance back at the diminutive witch as he asked, "Aren't you coming in, James?"

"No, I'm going to wait out here."

"What? Why?"

"I don't like the idea of being trapped in a small room with only one exit while our stalker is still out there some where. I don't want to be caught in an ambush on the way out either."

"Are you sure? Will you be alright out here alone?"

"I'm sure, Kura; and I will be fine."

"Alright, I shouldn't be too long."

Azalea nodded in response and moved over to the corner of the hallway to the left of the door before she crouched down to face the empty stretch of hallway leading back to the stairwell. She felt Kurapika's eyes linger on her for a moment longer before the blond stepped into the office and closed the door. The witch knew that the older teen was confused by her sudden willingness to be left alone; something that Azalea had avoided without fail ever since Hisoka had attacked her. The closest she'd come was when using the bathroom and even then Kurapika had held a conversation with her through the closed door in order to let her know that he was still there.

Azalea also knew that she couldn't forever rely upon the blond to hold her hand every step of the way. It wasn't really fair of her to expect Kurapika to forever protect her from her own inner demons. Besides, things weren't so bad now that she was no longer anywhere near where the attack had happened and that the last few nights had been nightmare free.

Closing her eyes, Azalea reached for her magic as she took several slow, deep breaths before she cast a wandless detection charm in order to determine just how many people were actually in the immediate area; trying to use as little magic as possible because she worried about overpowering the spell again. Unfortunately, the spell was still far too powerful and Azalea ended up with a rather painful migraine as her brain tried to assimilate the overload of information fed directly into her mind by the spell. She grimaced and clutched at her head as she bit back a loud curse and tried to ignore the pain while at the same time trying to make heads or tails over the large map her magic had just crammed into her head.

Several minutes passed before the pain began to recede and Azalea sighed with relief over both the lessening of pain and over the confirmation that there were only three people on the basement floor; though there were six spread throughout the upper floors and there were four more positioned at each of the four corners of the building outside. Azalea suspected those outside were guards of some sort, given their positions. She also found the person she thought was their stalker hovering just on the edge of the spell's range in the same building he'd been in when Azalea and Kurapika had reached their destination.

The last vestiges of the spell and the information it had given her had just faded completely from her mind, leaving only a dull ache stabbing into her brain from just behind her eyes, when Kurapika slammed the door open and stalked out of the small office. Azalea jumped at the unexpected sound of the door crashing into the wall before she shook off her shock and pulled out her silver potions knife (which she'd taken to carrying in her pocket since she'd started practicing her carving) as she glanced between the irate blond and the door. She wondered what had happened and almost regretted her decision to stay out in the hallway.

"Kura, what happened…?"

"Not now, James."

"Okay."

"Come on, we're leaving."

Azalea silently trailed after the blond even as she glanced back one last time in the direction of the office. The witch also felt a small flash of guilt as she wondered if how uncertain and off balanced she felt in that moment was how her friends felt when she was being moody. She made a silent vow to herself to try and be less moody in the future before she began thinking of something she could do to cheer the older teen up or at least get his mind off whatever had gone wrong. The moment they stepped outside, Kurapika took off in the direction of the forest outside of the ruins without even stopping to make certain that Azalea was behind him or to give her enough time to collect Hedwig.

Frowning, Azalea did her best to try to keep up with the taller teen as Kurapika unconsciously doubled his pace in his agitation; his longer legs eating up the ground. After an hour of trotting, Azalea's chest began to ache a touch and she began falling back as her breathing became labored; her body still rather weak from her injury. When they reached the edge of the forest, there was a good ten meters separating them and Azalea was far too winded to call out to the teen in order to ask him to wait up. She probably should have spoken up sooner but she hadn't wanted to disturb Kurapika's brooding since Azalea knew how annoying it was to be pestered when something was bothering her.

Worse yet, while she'd been so focused on her concern about her companion and on trying not to get left behind, Azalea had completely forgotten about their stalker. She was abruptly reminded of the man that had been trailing them since they'd stepped inside of the airport after leaving the Association's Hotel just as she stumbled to a stop and clutched at her chest some twenty minutes later.

One second she was on the verge of collapsing as she struggled to breathe against the stabbing pain filling her chest and the next her senses were screaming at her in warning. Time seemed to slow down as Azalea spun around on her heel and pulled on her magic as she registered something small and deadly flying through the air just a several feet away from her on a path that she just knew would hit Kurapika. Her eyes turned solid gold as rage surged through her over her stupidity in forgetting about their stalker and the mere thought of someone seeking to hurt the blond.

Uncaring of the pain that still filled her chest, Azalea focused her entire attention on the small projectile speeding through the air and threw herself forward. Her magic once again flashed gold around her as she slipped through both time and space with one hand outstretched. Time sped back up as Azalea's hand closed around the strange bullet as if it was a miniature snitch and she gave a sharp cry of triumph as she spun around on her heel with the momentum of the bullet. She stopped when she was facing the direction the bullet had come from and opened her hand to release the offending projectile as she cast a wandless Banishing Charm to send it back from where it had come from.

She fell to her knees a second later as the bullet slammed into a tree and exploded at the same time as the pain in Azalea's chest slammed back into her awareness. She then had but a split second to register someone appearing directly behind her before a blow to the back of the neck sent her into blackness.

* * *

><p>Kurapika had been irritated and frustrated beyond belief after he'd been told that he was lacking something and therefore could not be recommended to any of the potential employers on top of the declaration that the Hunter's Exam had not actually ended despite the fact that he'd earned his license. He'd let that frustration cloud his mind as he collected Azalea and stalked out of the building. He also hadn't noticed that he was steadily drawing further away from the not quite recovered witch as he was entirely wrapped up in his thoughts and worries about what it was he couldn't see.<p>

The first indication that there was something wrong came when he sensed something off in the forest around him and he slowed to a stop as he spun around to glance at the forest behind him. He felt like someone had kicked him in his stomach when he saw Azalea clutching at her chest quite some distance behind him. He didn't have much time to focus on the guilt he felt over ignoring the witch's health in his irritation as he suddenly sensed danger all around him. It was in that moment that he suddenly recalled Azalea's insistence that they were being followed and he cursed as he took off running back towards the shorter teen.

As he ran, he watched Azalea suddenly spin around and then Kurapika's heart rose up in his chest as he saw the petite brunette slip across a distance of roughly ten feet in the blink of an eye with a flash of gold; the same as she had just seconds before Killua impaled her in the chest. The witch than gave out a cry as she spun on her heel and threw out her hand. A tree exploded just seconds later but Kurapika only had eyes for the witch as she dropped to her knees while clutching at her chest.

By that time, Kurapika had crossed half the distance separating the two of them and he hoped and prayed that the sixteen year old hadn't been injured too seriously by whatever it was she'd thrown herself in front of this time. The blond skidded to a halt in shock a moment later as an unfamiliar man with shaggy brown hair appeared from out of nowhere and knocked Azalea unconscious with a blow to the back of her neck. Rage filled Kurapika at the audacity of someone attacking the witch (more than half of it self directed as he realized it was his fault that the witch had been in a position to be harmed) and his vision was painted red as his eyes turned scarlet.

"Get away from he… him!" Kurapika ordered as he pulled free his swords and began moving again.

"I will not," the man stated as he picked Azalea up off the ground. "The girl needs someone a little more responsible to keep an eye on her. You didn't even notice that she'd barely been keeping up with you from the moment you left the city and you noticed far too late that her heart was giving out on her. Hell, you practically dismissed all of her concerns about the two of you being followed; concerns that were valid since I've been following the two of you for days now. It was actually sad to see her far more worried for your health than her own as she threw herself between my bullet and you and left herself wide open to attack while also making her condition worse."

"Put her down or you will die."

"You'd willingly attack me while I held her life in my hands?"

"I won't have to; the moment that she wakes up and finds herself in the arms of a strange adult male, she's going to completely flip out and kill you herself."

"Ah, yes, her panic attacks. Don't worry; the witch can't hurt me any more than you could hurt me right now, especially when you consider the fact that she has no control over her magic at the moment."

"You're the Hunter that Chairman Netero said we would meet," Kurapika deduced the moment the man admitted that he knew Azalea was a witch as he slowed to a stop and lowered his swords as his rage faded and his vision cleared.

"Yes, and you're lucky that I've seen enough of your skills throughout the last few weeks to know that you have great potential or I'd fail you now. There's also the fact that I need to keep you around in order to get our little friend here to cooperate with the training I have been tasked to give you both."

"Training?"

"Yes, training. You didn't think that you'd suddenly be a proper Hunter just because you had a license now, did you?"

Kurapika blushed bright red in response to the man's sarcastic question because that was exactly what he'd thought. He then paled a bit as his eyes zeroed in on the pale witch cradled in the man's arms. He quickly tucked his swords away at the small of his back as he moved closer.

"I'll carry her."

"No, you can collect firewood as you follow me back to my camp."

* * *

><p><strong>Notes: <strong>

* Jenny – refers to the currency used in the HxH universe

* Azalea's Panic – is a direct result of Hisoka's attack. In time, she will eventually grow out of that as she grows stronger and more confident in her ability to defend herself; something that is seen in this chapter but will be far more apparent in the next couple of chapters.

* Dumbledore – no, this is NOT an evil Dumbledore story. Right now, we are only really seeing Azalea's side of things and she's disillusioned enough with the man to question his motives. Insight into Dumbledore's character will be given in three or four chapters, I think.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>_And there is the second update as promised. The next chapter should be up in about four days since it has no scenes that need to be completely rewritten. ~ Jenn  
><em>


	19. Nen x vs x Magic

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Nineteen: Nen x vs. x Magic<span>

Azalea woke with a start and bolted up off of the camp bed she'd been sleeping on wide eyed with fright when she didn't recognize her surroundings. She tripped backwards over the bed just seconds later when her eyes landed on the back of a strange man sitting beside the fire just a few feet away as her memory of being attacked in the forest came rushing back. When she didn't see Kurapika anywhere, Azalea scrambled back up onto her feet and gave out a whine of fear before she growled in anger over the mere thought that her attacker might have harmed the blond.

"Relax, brat; I'm not here to hurt you."

"Who the hell are you? Why the bloody hell did you attack me? And what in the name of Merlin's grubby and moth eaten underwear have you done to Kura? If you've hurt him, I swear by Merlin and all that is unholy that I will make you pay."

"My name is Mizuken. I didn't attack you; I was testing you and your friend and I was forced to knock you unconscious before you did yourself any further harm. I don't know if you realized it or not but you were just seconds from suffering through heart failure due to your foolishness. And your friend is fine; I merely sent him to gather more firewood because I wished to see what you would do if you woke up alone with me. I must say you didn't panic nearly as badly as I'd anticipated you would, given the fact that I'm the first adult male that you've been left alone with since Hisoka attacked you."

"How in the hell do you know about that!? Just who the hell are you and what do you want with me!?" Azalea demanded as she drew on her magic in case she needed to defend herself and danced further back away from the man who still hadn't turned around to look at her.

"I was given a copy of the police report with your file, Miss Potter. Chairman Netero thought I should be aware of what had happened along with your emotional and mental instability in the wake of the attack due to the fact that I have been assigned to train you."

"If you know that name, then that makes you the Hunter that he said we'd meet. Why the hell did you stalk us for so long instead of stepping forward and introducing yourself?"

"Several reasons but mostly I just wanted to see if either one of you would notice my presence while I gathered the information that I would need to determine if the two of you were worth training or if it would be a waste of my time to even try. I found it amusing that you and your feathered friend were often aware of my presence but was disappointed when you lost track of me while you were vulnerable. I was more than a little upset when you then stupidly risked your health and your life with that stunt you pulled with my Nen bullet."

"It would have hit Kura and I will not allow anyone to harm any more of my friends."

"And what would have happened to your friend if someone that truly meant him harm had captured you to use against him because you stupidly put yourself at risk? You need to learn to think things through; injuring yourself or getting yourself captured to save another doesn't mean the ones you were trying to protect will be spared and all you would have done is put yourself out of action and leave the ones you were trying to protect open to attack."

Mizuken paused for a moment to make certain that she had taken his words to heart before he continued, "You need to accept that your life is worth something only if you are alive and that you will be far more effective in protecting others if you take fewer risks. For example, you flew to London to save your godfather; you could have easily stopped by your godfather's house, which was also in London, to find an adult to help you and found that your godfather wasn't actually missing."

Azalea didn't respond to that as the pain of everything she'd done wrong the day she and the others had ran head first into the trap that the Dark Lord had set for her and what her mistakes had cost her and her friends that night swept over her. The fact that she now knew that her godfather had gone to the Ministry in order to die that night didn't really help make accepting the man's death any easier. She was so wrapped up in her emotions from what she saw as one of her worst mistakes that she didn't even think to wonder why she was so willing to trust the unfamiliar Hunter when she'd not even trusted Dr. Mackle not to hurt her after Hisoka's attack.

"Have a seat, Miss Potter; your body is still weak and you pushed yourself too far yesterday."

The witch gingerly crept back up to the camp bed she'd woken up on and righted it before taking at seat on it; staying as far away from the man as she could as she suddenly recalled that the man was an adult that she didn't actually know. She let her eyes dart around the camp again at that point as she hoped to see some sign of Kurapika and felt a flash of worry and disappointment when there was still no sign of the blond. Her attention then returned to the man seated beside the camp fire as he finally turned around to look at Azalea.

The man had a rather thin and angular face, shadowed dark brown eyes, a close cut and exceedingly sparse mustache and goatee, and thick shaggy brown hair. The clothes he wore were comfortable and well worn. In some ways, the man reminded Azalea of Remus but the weary down trodden air that always hung about the werewolf was not present in this man. In fact, the man felt more than a little predatory and Azalea thought he felt far more wolf-like than Remus did. The way the shadows from the fire half covered the man's face in the evening light only emphasized the feeling.

A snuffled bark sounded from above her at that moment as Hedwig dropped down to land on her shoulder and Azalea automatically reached up to pet her without taking her eyes off the man. She calmly ignored the dead frog that the owl clutched in her beak; long used to Hedwig's attempts to share her hunts with her. When she didn't take the proffered frog, Hedwig gave a muffled bark of complaint (as if to tell Azalea that she wasn't eating enough again) before she swallowed the carcass whole.

"Are you a wizard?" Azalea asked once she was finished with her inspection.

"No."

"Then what exactly is it you are supposed to train me in? Kura is already giving me lessons in self-defense."

"I'm going to teach you how to defend yourself against people like Hisoka that can use their aura to control you, trick you, harm you, or kill you."

"Aura? Hisoka's not a wizard though, he doesn't have an aura; I tested him when Tonpa called him a magician the night before the First Phase started."

"Idiot witch; all humans have an aura," Mizuken countered with a snort. "Even animals and plants have an aura. An aura is the life energy that all living things possess that separates them from the dead. We refer to the aura and a person's ability to use or manipulate their aura as Nen. The four major principles of Nen are Ten, Zetsu, Ren, and Hatsu. Ten is used to defend oneself against the aura attacks of another Nen user but is useless against physical attacks. Zetsu refers to one's ability to suppress their aura completely in order to hide their presence from another and also leaves one completely defenseless against even the weakest aura attack."

"Ren allows you to use your aura to attack another or enhance your body to make you stronger or faster. And finally, Hatsu is the ability to use your aura to carry out your will; though how you use your aura greatly depends upon the type of Nen you have. There are six different types of Nen users and they are; Enhancer, Transmuter, Conjurer, Emitter, Manipulator, and Specialist. And while it is possible to develop abilities outside of your basic type, those abilities will always be weaker and focusing on those types of attacks will limit one's ability to reach their full potential."

"Enhancers have the ability to strengthen and reinforce their natural abilities, Transmuters have the ability to change their aura to mimic something else, Conjurers can create solid objects from their aura, Emitters can create intangible objects from their aura to attack, Manipulators can control objects or living things, and Specialists have abilities that don't fall into any of the other categories."

"Those abilities don't sound all that different from what I can do with my magic," Azalea pointed out as she tipped her head to one side and furrowed her brow.

"That's because magic is made up of a person's life force; their aura."

"But not everyone can use magic… my aunt, uncle, and cousin were all non-magicals; though it is possible that my aunt and cousin are squibs now that I think about it."

"There are two differences between a magical and non-magical person," Mizuken explained patiently. "The first is that a non-magical person's aura is finite; meaning that each non-magical person is born with a set amount of life force that dissipates throughout their lifetime. Conversely, a magical person is born with an ability to absorb the airborne energy released by other living things and integrate that energy into their aura; essentially making their life force infinite. The amount of life force a person is born with and the rate at which it dissipates varies from person to person regardless of whether they are magical or not; which is why some people live longer than others and why some magicals are more powerful than others."

The man then grabbed a stick from the pile of branches beside the campfire and scratched out a hexagon on the ground before labeling each corner with one of the six abilities. Their order, starting from the topmost point and going clockwise, was; Enhancer, Transmuter, Conjurer, Specialist, Manipulator, and Emitter. Mizuken then connected each angle of the hexagon with the one opposite of it so that the inside of the diagram had been broken into six equal parts before he circled the point at which the three lines crossed and wrote magic inside of it after smoothing out the lines inside of the circle.

The man then looked up as he continued, "The second difference between a magical and non-magical person has to do with aura type. This is a diagram that shows how each of the six types of auras relate to one another and it is often used to determine one's compatibility with an ability other than the one linked to their aura type; an example being that an Enhancer will find it far easier to use an Emitter's ability than he would a Conjurer's ability. The only exception is that non-Specialists usually will not be able to use Specialization abilities aside from Manipulators and Conjurers who have a one percent potential to develop the ability to use Specialization later in life."

"All non-magicals fall into one of those six categories. Magicals, however, sit right smack in the center of the diagram in a separate category of their own because their magic is made up of all six types and can use the abilities of each, though some magicals will display a greater affinity for one or more types that they find far easier to use than others. The reason for that is due to the fact that they are constantly absorbing and integrating the energy from all six types of auras into their life force from the moment they are born and the more time they spend around people with a specific type of aura, the more of that aura type they absorb."

"Does that mean they'd find spells that fall into one category easier to use then others? Like a transfiguration master being able to easily conjure objects or change one object into another while someone good at charms is good at manipulating things?"

"Yes; that is exactly what I was referring to, Miss Potter."

"And you can teach me how to break my magic into those six separate parts so that I can use my aura to protect myself?"

"No, I can't teach you how to do that because I don't know how to separate your magic into the separate types of auras; you'll need to figure that out on your own. However, once you know how to do that, then I can train you to use the individual Nen abilities."

"Oh."

"Zalea! You're awake!" Kurapika cried out in relief as he stumbled into the camp at that moment carrying an armful of dead branches. He quickly dumped the wood beside the fire before he hurried forward to sweep Azalea up into his arms; the witch blushing over the way the blond had verbally caressed the slightly shortened form of her middle name. "I was so worried that you'd been seriously hurt because I was stupid and forgot that you were still healing. Are you alright? Are you having any trouble breathing? Does your chest hurt at all?"

"I'm fine," Azalea replied with a small laugh as she hugged the teen in return and buried her face against Kurapika's neck as the last of her tension melted away. "I was worried when I couldn't find you when I first woke up; I thought something had happened to you."

"I'm alright, kitten; mostly just angry at myself for not thinking about your health in my frustration. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes, mother."

"Cheeky brat."

"I live to serve."

Kurapika laughed and tightened his arms around Azalea as he buried his nose in Azalea's hair. Azalea let out a soft sigh of contentment as she snuggled against the older teen. Memories of the kisses they'd shared prior to her encounter with Hisoka on the airship after the Fourth Phase filled Azalea's mind for the first time in what seemed like ages and she let out a soft humming purr in response to the feelings those memories invoked. She then unconsciously nuzzled Kurapika's neck before pressing a few kisses to the warm flesh.

"Kitten…?" Kurapika asked questioningly as he pulled back a bit in surprise over the unexpected show of affection.

"Now is not the time to be necking," Mizuken dryly declared. "I think it best that the two of you discard any notions of physical intimacy because I don't need the headache of dealing with a witch in the midst of a complete panic attack when a few innocent kisses lead to something she'll regret. And you should know better than to encourage her, blondie, seeing as how you're supposed to be protecting her from those that want to take advantage of her; not taking advantage of her yourself."

"Go bugger yourself," Azalea snapped back as she leaned around Kurapika to glare at the man. "You aren't my keeper and I don't need your permission to kiss anyone. I have not once regretted kissing Kurapika and I sure as hell won't start regretting it now. Besides, my godfather gave me his blessings before he kicked me out of the afterlife."

To prove her point, Azalea reached up to pull Kurapika's head down so she could properly kiss the blond. Kurapika froze for a split second before he gladly returned the kiss and Azalea hummed in pleasure before she surrendered control of the kiss to the blond.

"You made you're point, girl; now kindly remove your tongue from his mouth. You may be free to kiss whomever you please but that doesn't mean I want a private showing. I also want to make it perfectly clear that you are to leave your personal relationship out of your training; I won't have you killing yourself because you were drooling over one another when you should have been focusing on your training. And finally, you are to address me with respect. Is that clear?"

Azalea reluctantly pulled away as a spike of irritation shot through her over being called girl in addition to the demand for respect and she growled under her breath before she retorted, "First of all; my name is not girl. Do _not_ call me that again. And second of all; respect is meant to be earned. If you want me to respect you, then you damn well better prove that you are worthy of my respect. I've had enough of the adults in my life belittling me just because they thought they could while demanding that I treat them with respect and I refuse to tolerate it any longer."

"If you do not show me respect, Miss Potter, then I will not teach you; which means that you will fail your test and your license will be revoked."

"Don't make threats that you and I both know you don't intend to keep," Azalea retorted as her eyes glittered with gold dust as her irritation drew on her magic once more. "You already made your decision to train the two of us or you would not have bothered to follow us for as long as you did. I will not tolerate you treating me like a child. I may be short and I may not yet have reached my majority but I am not a child. I was never allowed to be a child and any automatic respect I could have once held for adults and other authority figures was beaten out of me long ago."

"You are an annoyingly stubborn little wench, Miss Potter."

"Thank you for the complement," Azalea cheekily retorted as her irritation fled just as quickly as it had come. She then turned utterly serious as she stated, "I'm only going to nicely ask you once to please stop using my last name; outside of the wizarding world I'm known only as James in order to protect myself and those that know me from my enemies."

"Did you have any other questions about Nen?" Mizuken asked several minutes later as he turned away from the two teens and stirred the coals of the fire before adding more wood.

"What does Nen feel like and how are you supposed to go about using it? Can you show me an example of what it looks like when someone else uses it?" Azalea asked after a moment as she sat back down on the camp bed and pulled Kurapika down next to her so that she could snuggle against the other teen; the witch seeking a small measure of comfort from the blond's presence.

Azalea spent the next hour curled up beside Kurapika as she listened to Mizuken lecture the two of them on the two methods of awakening a persons' ability to use Nen, the dangers inherent in using Nen, and further explained the four principles of Nen. Once he was finished with that, he gave the requested demonstration and Azalea had a brief panic attack when the feeling evoked by Mizuken's use of Ren reminded her sharply of the feeling that Hisoka had radiated both the time he'd confronted Azalea on the airship and the night he'd attacked the witch. Once she'd regained control of herself, Azalea watched as Mizuken awakened Kurapika's ability to use Nen.

Azalea's awakening wouldn't take place until nearly a week later in order to give her body time to grow stronger and to give the witch time to grow a little more comfortable around the man. During that week, Azalea continued with the light physical training that Kurapika had started her on, practiced her carving, and spent a considerable amount of time in meditation studying her magic anew using the knowledge that Mizuken had given her about Nen, auras, and Nen abilities. Kurapika split his time between helping Azalea with her physical training, keeping up with his own training, and working with Mizuken on manipulating his Nen.

At the end of each day, the two of them would retreat into Azalea's tent to sleep; the two of them sharing the bed with Kurapika sleeping on top of the covers under an unzipped sleeping bag. Occasionally, the two of them would share a few kisses when they were alone though they were no where near as passionate as the ones they'd shared during the Fourth Phase of the Exam. Kurapika also made it a point to never put Azalea into a position in which she'd feel vulnerable or threatened and continued to allow her to set the pace of their relationship; which was currently going very slowly as the witch continued to recover from both her injury and Hisoka's attack.

At the end of that first week, Azalea stood pensively facing Kurapika as Mizuken stepped up behind her and the witch had to force herself not to flinch away from the man. She shivered and tensed her shoulders as she felt the man reach out as if to touch her back and she had to focus on Kurapika in order to fight the urge to bolt away. She took a couple of deep breaths to help fight her growing discomfort and nervously waited for the man to do whatever it was he did to awaken Kurapika's Nen ability.

Seconds later, she felt an incredible wave of foreign heat wash over her and she stumbled away from the source of the heat as she cried out sharply. At the same time, her magic rushed up from the depths of her core to shove the invading force out of her body. After the heat vanished, instead of stopping just beneath her skin like it normally did, her magic flowed out of her body and wrapped around her in a visible aura of gold fire. She could literally feel her magic flowing out and away from her and she felt a brief moment of panic when she couldn't halt the flow.

"Concentrate; you need to stop panicking and focus on bringing the flow of your aura back under your control," Mizuken ordered from just a few feet behind her.

Azalea closed her eyes, struggled to bring her breathing back under control, and slipped into a meditative trance in response to the order. Calmness washed through her as she concentrated on the soothing feeling of contentment she felt each morning when she woke up curled up beside Kurapika. A few minutes later, it felt like she was encased in warm honey as her magic calmed and flowed around her instead of rushing off in an uncontrollable flood.

"Good job, Miss Potter, now slowly open your eyes."

When Azalea complied with the order, she found herself looking out at the world through a haze of gold. She lifted her hands and stared at the visible layer of magic she could feel flowing over and around her body before she glanced over at Kurapika to find the blond engulfed in a translucent cloud of pale silvery-white. A look over her shoulder showed her that Mizuken was also enshrouded in silvery-white, though his was not quite as translucent as the one surrounding the blond and it didn't spread out so far from the older Hunter's skin.

"Why is does my aura appear so dense in comparison to the ones surrounding the two of you? And why is my aura gold? Is that because of my magic?"

"Stop thinking of your aura and your magic as being two separate things, Miss Potter; your magic is your aura. And yes, both the color and density are due to the fact that you possess a meld of all six types of Nen Abilities. Now, I want you to focus on the feeling of your aura wrapping itself around you for a moment; what does it feel like?"

"Like warm honey; slightly heavy but not restricting. It also feels eager, like a playful kitten waiting to pounce on a string; lazy, like a cat basking in a warm patch of sunlight; and dangerous, like tiger stalking its prey. And I thought I asked you nicely to stop using my last name; as far as the Hunter Association is concerned my name is James."

"That is an interesting analysis. What I want you to do now is release your aura and allow it to withdraw back into your body."

It took far longer for Azalea to comply with the order this time; her magic did not want to return to her core. Just pulling it back inside of her body had her sweating heavily as it fought her every step of the way. Eventually, her magic submitted to her will and withdrew completely; leaving Azalea on her knees panting heavily. When Mizuken told her to bring her aura out again the moment she'd just pulled it back, Azalea shot him a dirty look as she really had no desire to go through that a second time.

She did it anyway.

Two hours later, Azalea was exhausted and her aura (her magic) was far calmer than it had been since the day her wand had been destroyed (though still far wilder than it had been when her core had been bound). It also obeyed her without question now when she called it forth to enshroud her body using Ten or sent it back into her core. She'd over exhausted herself while gaining that control however and she'd passed out the moment Mizuken finally told her she was finished for the day. Kurapika would carry her to their shared bed so she could rest after she'd passed out.

The next day, Mizuken declared that Azalea needed to start running each day in order to build up her stamina after he'd consulted Kurapika on the physical training schedule that the teen had created for the witch. She would start out slow and switch out between walking and jogging and slowly build up the distance she 'ran' until she was running a minimum of five miles a day. Mizuken also added two hours of Nen practice (one in the morning and one in the evening) in order for Azalea to improve her control. Azalea would incorporate the additional practice into the time she spent meditating on her magic because the two activities were so similar in nature.

Kurapika's Nen training during this time focused on him using Zetsu to hide his presence; something that Azalea did naturally (even after her loss of control due to her core being freed from the bindings) as she'd long ago learned to suppress her magic as a form of self preservation (both from the Dursleys and from her fan-club). The fact that Azalea had been using her magic for close to six years gave her some advantages over Kurapika in their Nen training, though the fact that she no longer had the same level of control she'd had previously meant that she struggled even with that advantage. Kurapika on the other hand had years of discipline to call upon as well as his determination to avenge his clan; which meant the blond drove himself ever forward in order to get stronger.

After another week, Azalea started practicing her wandless spell casting once more. She used the same basic routine that she'd used on Zevil Island during the first day of the Fourth Phase when she'd needed to burn off her frustration over her earlier confusion about her feelings for the blond. This time she used the ruined bits of wood from her carving practice and stuck them to trees for targets in another clearing less than a mile away from their camp instead of transfiguring or conjuring ones like she had before. She also had an audience this time as both Kurapika and Mizuken had followed her out of curiosity.

Once the targets were in place, she buttoned up her dragon-hide cloak; fingering the five finger sized holes that rested over her heart for a moment. She then shoved her brief death out of her mind as she strode to the center of the clearing and fell into the duelers stance she'd taken to using when she fought with her magic; her right foot forward, the right side of her body angled towards her first target, her left arm curled up so that her hand was nearly touching the back of her head (for balance), and her right arm held straight out in front of her with her palm facing outwards. She then closed her eyes and let her magic flow freely through her body.

She opened her eyes to reveal completely gold irises once she was ready and she held herself still for a full minute before she exploded into action. Wandless Stinging Hexes flew from her right hand and shattered each of her targets as she still overpowered the usually harmless (if painful and annoying) spell. She tightened her control on her magic, clenched her teeth, and hit the biggest pieces still clinging to the trees with a second hex and was pleased to note that while they still shattered, the fragments that exploded outwards weren't nearly as small (meaning she'd successfully cut the amount of magic in each spell).

She then began Summoning, Levitating, and Banishing dozens of pebbles that buried themselves in the trees all around the clearing. She continued with that spell chain until the pebbles were merely bouncing off of the trees rather than punching through them but that had more to do with the fact that she was growing tired than it did with control; each over powered spell taking three times the amount of energy as a normal powered one. She added in Freezing Charms, Sticking Charms, and Blasting Hexes to the spell chain next (now that she'd gained a measure of control through the partial exhaustion).

After an hour and a half, Azalea lowered her arm in disgust as she scowled at the ground and struggled to bring her ragged breathing back under control. Previously, she'd been able to cast both wanded and wandless spells for close to six hours before she'd grow far too exhausted to continue (so long as she wasn't exhausted or injured). Her spells had also been far more consistent and easier to predict. Wiping the sweat from her face with her arm, Azalea headed for the edge of the clearing only to stop when she saw both Kurapika and Mizuken gaping at the destruction she'd caused in such a short amount of time.

"Remind me never to piss you off, kitten," Kurapika muttered as he took one last glance around the clearing.

"I must say that was quite an impressive display and from here on out, I think I'm going to call you firecracker."

Azalea snorted in amusement over Kurapika's response before she scowled at Mizuken, "No, that was a rather pathetic display as I've still not regained full control and I barely lasted for more than an hour before I risked passing out from magical exhaustion. I used to be able to steadily cast a non-stop barrage of spells for four and five hours straight before my wand was destroyed when I shredded the bindings on my core."

"And it was utterly sloppy. During the first forty-five minutes, all of my spells were ridiculously overpowered which resulted in a total waste of magic. The Stinging Hexes should have done nothing more than make the targets bounce against trees; not shatter them into millions of pieces. And don't even get me started on the Banishing Charms smashing the pebbles through the tree when they should have just bounced off them the entire time."

Rant over, Azalea trudged back to camp and dug out the last couple of cauldron cakes she had and moodily dropped down beside the fire to eat the cakes. The new nickname Mizuken had bestowed upon her was dismissed outright; she'd been called far worse things during the course of her childhood and during her five years at Hogwarts. There was also the fact that it was somewhat similar to her great-grandfather's nickname and allowed her to have yet another small connection to the man.

Kurapika didn't allow her to brood for long as the blond set her to working on her carving. She'd actually improved over the past couple of weeks and she was currently learning how to refine the shape of the small swords she was making so that they looked like actual swords instead of crude imitations and how to avoid weakening the wooden blades with uneven cuts. She was also given lessons on the different types of blades and which ones were best suited to her height and build so that she could select an appropriate style of sword when she finally started carving the oak branch she'd been given by the bowtruckles.

The very next day, Mizuken began teaching them how to use Ren. He had them start by enshrouding themselves using Ten before he had them slowly increase the amount of Nen they were pushing out while still holding it around their bodies. Kurapika got the concept fairly quickly while Azalea's magic tended to slip out of her control the moment she tried to expand her aura; resulting in a shockwave of magic spiraling outwards from the witch.

Over the next handful of days, Azalea worked on using Ren as diligently as she worked on regaining control of her wandless spell casting as she suspected the difficulties she had with each were linked since they were both fundamentally the same thing; the only difference being the volume of magic involved and the method of released used. Ren used her magic in its purest form while the spells converted her magic into different types of energy for the spells based upon the type of spell she was using.

It would take Azalea six days to gain the smallest measure of control using Ren and another eight days after that to consistently be able to maintain that control.

At the end of their fourth week of training with Mizuken (around the same time Azalea gained a measure of consistent control over her Ren), the man poured water into a wine glass and floated a single leaf on top of the water before setting it in front of Kurapika as the three of them sat at a small camp table. They were going to be using water divination to determine their Aura Type. Mizuken had wanted to test them sooner but he'd needed to wait until Azalea had some control over her Ren while Kurapika concentrated on further refining his own control during that time.

Kurapika was asked to go first; Mizuken instructing him to hold his hands on either side of the glass while maintaining a distance of three to five inches of space between his hands and the glass while focusing his Ren on the water inside of the glass. Azalea couldn't help but lean a little closer as she pushed her glasses back into place so she could see if there was anything happening to the glass of water. After a few minutes, she could see small grains of what looked like sand or tiny crystals forming in the water. Mizuken saw them as well and told Kurapika that he could stop.

"Congratulations, blondie, the formation of inclusions in the water means that you're a Conjurer," Mizuken announced as he poured out the water, rinsed the glass, refilled it with fresh water, placed a new leaf on top, and set it down in front of Azalea this time as he addressed the witch. "That means it's your turn, firecracker."

Azalea nodded as she eyed the water and leaf carefully as she stretched her hands out on either side of the glass. She then closed her eyes and concentrated on pulling forth her aura shroud before slowly and steadily increasing her aura. The sound of breaking glass and the sharp order from Mizuken to stop had Azalea opening her eyes as she withdrew her aura back into her body. Azalea's eyes bugged out rather comically as she took in what had happened to the water and leaf inside of the glass as well as to the glass itself.

The leaf had broken apart and scattered over the surface of the water while hundreds of tiny crystals had formed in the water at the same time as the water itself had doubled in volume, spun up out of it like a water spout in a hurricane, turned sweet (as if sugar had been added), and turned a dark red before it froze solid; the pressure of the sudden change in temperature causing the glass to crack.

"And that is the difference between Nen and magic," Mizuken stated as he gestured to the still frozen mess that Azalea had made of the glass of water and leaf. "Only one ability manifested itself during blondie's turn. All six abilities were manifested when the little firecracker here took her turn. She created inclusions like a Conjurer, changed the color of the water like an Emitter, moved the leaf like a Manipulator, increased the volume of water like an Enhancer, changed the taste of the water like a Transmuter (just sample the ice if you don't believe me), and when she changed the state of the water and leaf it demonstrated the ability of a Specialist. The fact that the changes were quick and violent is an indication of just how much potential the little firecracker has and how little control she has over her aura."

"So what happens now?" Azalea asked as she tore her eyes away from the rather spectacular mess she'd made.

"Now, the two of you will need to focus on refining your Nen abilities; blondie will need to practice using Ren and Hatsu in order to make the changes to the water more pronounced and start thinking about what skills he wishes to develop using his abilities as a Conjurer. You, on the other hand, little firecracker; will need to bring your aura more firmly under your control and figure out how to separate your magic into six different auras in order to progress as a Nen user at this point. Continuing your meditation and your physical training will help as the stronger you are mentally and physically, the easier it is to use and manipulate your aura."

"Joy," Azalea sighed as she snapped off a small icicle from the mess in front of her, stuck it in her mouth, and hummed at the pleasantly sweat taste.

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><p><strong>AN:<strong> _I am still not quite happy with this chapter; it feels rather tedious in places. It is at least far better than the original chapter I had written and then edited at least a dozen times before it ended up in its current form. Anyway, the next chapter will finally touch a bit on the reactions of Azalea's friends from back home. ~ Jenn_


	20. Letters x from x Home

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**Chapter Warning:**_ There is some implied bashing of a small handful of characters in this chapter._

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

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><p><strong>IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE:<strong>

_It has come to my attention that there are a handful of individuals who are annoyed or offended by my use of Japanese vocabulary in the story or by the fact that I choose to provide a small glossary of Japanese terms as a footnote at the bottom of the page. I will not apologize for my decision to include a smattering of Japanese words in this or any other story that I write. Nor will I remove them. _

_I include the Japanese names and terms because a number of the universes that I have chosen to use for my crossovers originated in Japan (Naruto, Natsume Yujincho, and SAO most prominently), and it is my tribute to their creators. In most cases, the English translations for certain nicknames or jutsu sound somewhat strange or silly to me. So, I instead choose to use their original Japanese names. The only exceptions are my Gundam Wing and Hunter x Hunter crossovers and even then I included a small handful of terms that needed to be defined or translated._

_I will also not disrupt the flow of my story to interject English translations within the story text. The only exception is when I have a character within the story translate a word or phrase for another character within the story. To me, there is nothing more annoying than to get caught up in a story and suddenly have the author rip you out of their story just to provide a translation or other author's note. I have stopped reading stories that use such a format unless they are exceptionally well written and the interruptions are very minimal (meaning less than three per chapter). _

_Furthermore, the use of footnotes and glossaries are something I've seen thousands of times in the published novels and works I have read; so I really don't see what the big deal is. If my style of writing and methods of translation are that distasteful to you, then you can always move your little mouse curser up to the top, right hand corner of the browser and click on the little red button with the 'x' to close my story out or go one step further and remove my story/stories from your favorite/follow lists. I will never force anyone to read my stories if they are unhappy with them. _

_As a side note, I will be posting this announcement in each of my current WIPs to make certain that all of my readers see it at least once. So, for those of you who are following my other stories; if you have read it here, you can skip it in the next updates for my other stories. ~ Jenn_

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><p><span>Chapter Twenty: Letters x from x Home<span>

Two weeks and thirty-three more ruined wine glasses later (which she'd been required to purchase herself since Mizuken had no interest in buying things just for her to break), Azalea stormed away from her Nen practice in a foul mood as her distinct lack of progress was really beginning to get to her. At least her physical progress had been heartening; otherwise she'd have been in an even worse mood. To work off her frustration, Azalea dumped out the contents of her book bag all over the coffee table and couch in her tent's living room so she could sort through everything to determine if she needed to purchase any supplies soon.

She started with what food she had left and made it a point to keep track of what she had and how much of it she had on a piece of parchment so she didn't loose track of everything. She wasn't really surprised to find that most of the food she'd picked up before leaving England was nearly gone; she'd shared her supplies with four other people for nearly two weeks, after all. And all four of the boys had eaten far more in one sitting than Azalea ever had (though Azalea herself was also eating far more than she used to thanks to Kurapika's insistence that she eat properly). She'd also been sharing those supplies with Kurapika and Mizuken over the past two months

She'd barely finished with the food and moved onto her candy supply when she came across the package that Hedwig had brought her close to three months ago and she felt a rock settle into the pit of her stomach as she realized that she'd forgotten all about it in the wake of her temporary death, Hisoka's attack, and her training. Abandoning the mess she'd made in the living room, Azalea robotically made her way into the kitchen, sat down in the first chair she came to, placed the package on the table in front of her, and stared at it. Nearly twenty minutes had passed before she found the courage to untie the string and the moment she pulled the string off, words appeared on the brown paper that the box had been wrapped in.

_Unless you wish to be hexed purple and green in five point six seconds, you will either  
>need to replace the string you just removed or give the password.<em>

Azalea placed her right index finger on the package and pulled her magic to the surface as she intoned, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." The words on the package immediate changed to read; _Glad to see that you are keeping your priorities straight, partner, _and Azalea snorted with exasperated amusement as she ripped the paper off the package so she could see what was inside.

Azalea let out a whistle as she pulled the lid from the box and glanced inside to find far more than she ever expected and she silently thanked the witch or wizard that developed the Undetectable Expansion Charm and the Featherweight Charm because without those two spells there was no way that Hedwig would have survived carrying the package as far as she had. She immediately dove into the box and began pulling out a series of smaller boxes; each one labeled with the information of who had sent it to her and brief description of what was inside.

There was a box labeled as homemade treats from Mrs. Weasley, a box of newspaper clippings from Mr. Weasley, a box of owl treats and rock cakes from Hagrid, two boxes labeled as Christmas and Birthday gifts from everyone, a box of pranks from the twins, books from Lupin and Moody, and several other odds and ends. The one that caught Azalea's attention though was the box labeled as letters from everyone. Swallowing thickly, Azalea pushed the other boxes off to one side as she set that one on the table in front of her and used the password a second time to dismantle the protective spells she knew the twins would have placed on it.

Inside she found several bundles of envelopes and scrolls; each bundle holding the letters written by a specific individual. On top of the bundles was a tightly rolled scroll that was nearly three inches in diameter that had the words '_Read Me First_' scrawled across the front of it. Azalea's hands shook as she used the Map's password for a third time before breaking the wax seal and unrolling the rather long letter. It took her close to an hour to read that letter (which turned out to be from Fred and George) and by the time she was finished she was feeling more than a little ambivalent over what she'd just learned about what was going on back home (the twins had given her an extremely detailed account of everything that had happened since the night she left).

She spent another few minutes thinking about what she'd learned from the twins before she reached in and randomly grabbed one of the bundles of letters; which happened to be from Ginny. She read through four of her letters before she tossed the rest of the stack aside as the girl had just ranted and raved how selfish Azalea was for abandoning her and how she'd gotten Ginny into all kinds of trouble with her mum. Those letters hurt because Ginny was her first ever friend that was a girl and Azalea had thought that the two of them had been close friends, sisters even.

The next bundle was from Ron and Azalea didn't even make it through the first two before she was feeling heartsick as he once again accused her of seeking glory and fame in addition to calling her a cheat even though they'd never been a couple. It was her fourth year all over again and Azalea didn't know if she could ever forgive Ron this time. Horatio's letters weren't much better as he'd taken a scolding tone in all three of the ones she'd read. The pair of letters she read from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley cut even deeper as they'd been something of parental figures for her for several years now and for them to lay into her like that had hurt; especially when Mrs. Weasley had basically called her an irresponsible child.

She didn't bother opening any more as she sat at the table staring at the scattered letters spread over the table without seeing them. She'd known they'd be upset with her, that they wouldn't exactly be happy with her choices, and that they would most likely lecture her a bit but she'd thought they'd at least pretend to understand. She didn't think they'd treat her decision to get the training she so desperately needed to survive as some sort of temper tantrum she was throwing. It hurt to know that they'd had so little faith in her; that they'd think so little of her and her motives.

Something irreparable broke inside of Azalea in that moment.

From the moment Azalea first entered the wizarding world at age eleven, she'd been building bonds with those individuals that she met. Some bonds were positive, some were neutral, and several were negative; but they were all things that tied her to the society into which she'd been born. Those bonds, while stronger than any of the bonds she'd made within the muggle world, were not indestructible and some of them had been stressed repeatedly through the years.

In some ways, those bonds were just as restricting as the bindings that had been placed on her core and they were part of what had been holding her back during her training. Those bonds had been Azalea's only reason for clinging so tightly to a way of life she'd desperately longed to be part of and with so many of the positive ones broken beyond repair there was no longer anything left to stop her from leaving that life behind. Oh, she still had a prophecy to fulfill but the prophecy did not bind her to the wizarding world; it simply bound her fate to that of Voldemort's.

And she still held bonds of friendship with at least two people (Fred and George) but those weren't enough to hold her any longer and those bonds were far more flexible than the ones that had bound her to Ron, Horatio, Ginny, and the adult Weasleys. If not for the new bonds she'd forged over the course of the Hunter's Exam (Kurapika's in particular), it is possible that the breaking of so many of those old bonds might have shattered the witch completely.

As it was, their loss left her floundering and feeling completely and utterly worthless.

Azalea slowly closed her eyes, propped her elbows on the table, tucked her chin against her chest, and fisted her fingers in her hair as she struggled to remember how to breathe through the pain she was feeling. A pain that went beyond mere physical pain as the hurtful words of those she'd seen as friends and family had cut straight through her bonds to pierce her soul far more effectively than Killua's fingers had torn through dragon-hide, flesh, and bone to pierce her heart. As much as it hurt though, Azalea had no tears to cry for the loss; she'd long feared that the others would never forgive her for running like she had, no matter that she'd only done it to grow stronger and to protect them from herself (and from her enemies) until she could fulfill the prophecy.

She was still sitting there in a fog of emotional pain several hours later when Kurapika came to let her know that supper was ready. Azalea never noticed the blond ducking into the tent nor did she hear him calling her name. It wasn't until she felt a hand falling on her shoulder that Azalea realized she wasn't alone. Azalea tilted her head slightly to the side to indicate that she was aware she wasn't alone without bothering to open her eyes, drop her hands, or say a single word.

"What's with the messes all over the tent, kitten? Are you still stressing about your lack of progress in separating your magic into Nen auras?"

Azalea gave the slightest shake of her head as she let out a single, short laugh that was half sob. She then untangled her left hand from her hair and randomly selected one of the letters that were scattered on the table in front of her. She lifted the innocent looking piece of parchment and dangled it so that it hung just in front of her face as she opened dull green eyes that were empty of all emotion. After a moment, she read the letter out loud in a voice that sounded as dead as her eyes looked.

_Azalea,_

_I can't believe you. I thought you learned your lesson after what happened to Sirius.  
>Do you have any idea how stupid it was of you to leave the Dursleys? Just what were<br>you thinking? You need to go home right now before someone else dies saving you  
>from another one of your foolish stunts.<em>

_Horatio_

Azalea flung that letter over her shoulder and selected another random letter that she read out loud next.

_Harriet Azalea,_

_Of all the foolish and irresponsible things you've done through the years; this is by  
>far the worst. After everything we've done to keep you safe, you foolishly run off the<br>first chance you get and put everyone's lives in danger with your selfishness. It is  
>past time for you to grow up and start acting like the young lady you are supposed to<br>be instead of the two year old you are acting like. _

_I fully expect you to come home right now young lady._

_Mrs. Weasley_

That letter flew off in a different direction than the previous one as Azalea reached for the next letter.

_Azalea,_

_You are such a selfish slag; do you have any idea how many times mum has yelled at me  
>because you took off? I've always known you were selfish but this just takes the cake; I'm<br>always getting in trouble because of you. Some friend you turned out to be._

_Ginny_

Azalea crushed that letter and threw it across the room with a casual flick of her wrist before she collected another off the table.

_Harriet,_

_Child, I know you must be more than a little confused right now and feeling guilty about  
>the terrible mistakes you made at the end of the year but running away isn't the answer.<br>You have adults that are willing to look out for you now and you need to let us handle  
>things while you worry about school; you are still just a child. <em>

_Just come home, dear; the longer you run, the harder things will get for you._

_Mr. Weasley_

She tossed that one to the side and grabbed another but before she could pick it up, Kurapika's hand dropped down over hers and prevented her from lifting the letter from the table. Azalea didn't bother struggling nor did she say anything further as she simply sat there staring at nothing.

"Where did all the letters and boxes come from, Zalea?" Kurapika asked as he glanced at the scattered letters that remained on the table, the thick bundles that were still in the box, and the various boxes that were stacked willy-nilly on the table.

"Hedwig."

"Hedwig… are you saying that this is everything that was in the package she delivered over two months ago? Why did you wait all this time to open it? Are all of the letters…? Do they all…? Zalea, you do know that they're wrong, don't you? You can't take their words at face value; they were probably angry and worried when they wrote them and the next time you talk to them, I bet they'll apologize…"

"It doesn't matter."

"Zalea…?"

Azalea shook her head and she dropped her right hand to scatter the rest of the letters (both read and unread) with a wide sweep of her arm before she collapsed backwards against the chair, dropped her head over the backrest, and closed her eyes. The intangible pain she'd been feeling soon faded to icy numbness and Azalea wondered if she'd ever be warm again.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No. There's nothing to be said. I just… I had thought I had found a place where I belonged but I guess I always knew I didn't truly fit in there. It hurt to learn that they have no faith in me; worse than what it felt like when Killua tried to rip my heart out through my chest. I suppose that it's partly my own fault for never telling them about the prophecy. I just didn't think it fair to burden them."

"Prophecy…? What prophecy? What are you talking about, Zalea?"

"_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… And the Dark Lord will mark the child as his equal, but the child will have power the Dark Lord knows not… And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…_" Azalea intoned in the same dead voice she'd used when reading from the letters just minutes earlier; no longer caring who heard the words that had sealed her fate before she'd even been born.

"That's what you were talking about when you said you had no choice, why you said you've had a target on your back from the day you were born, and why you said you had what amounted to a death sentence over your head," Kurapika stated as he leaned against the table and stared at Azalea with no little amount of shock. The blond then jerked upright as his eyes gained a slight scarlet tint to them as he whispered, "_Either must die at the hand of the other…_ We all saw Killua kill you that day. I watched you as you bled to death and choked on your own blood while the doctors frantically tried to save you. The only reason that you didn't stay dead was because the Dark Lord the prophecy refers to wasn't the one who killed you."

"Correct. Did you know my godfather greeted me right after I died? He was there waiting for me, to stop me from staying there; he even told me that I didn't belong in the afterlife before he threw me out."

A short silence fell between them until Kurapika gently asked, "Do you have any clues as to what the 'power he knows not' might refer to?"

"Professor Dumbledore is convinced that the power that will defeat the Dark Lord is love. If that's the case, then the entire world is buggered because I don't know what love is. How could I possibly understand, let alone use, something that I've never experienced? I've been told my parents loved me, and I suppose they must have since they died to protect me, but the only memories I have of them are of their deaths."

"I watched my aunt and uncle shower love on my cousin as I grew up but their idea of love sickens and repulses me. Watching other families didn't help me to understand what love was; it just made me feel like I was always standing on the outside looking in. Even if I had even the smallest idea of what love might be… how am I supposed to use that against a powerful wizard that is at least fifty years older than me!? What am I supposed to do; walk up and snog him to death!?"

"Kissing you is the nearest I've ever been to heaven, kitten," Kurapika weakly teased.

Azalea jerked her head up to stare at the blond with wide eyes before she shook her head and snorted as a small smile tugged at her lips. She then snickered a bit as she countered with, "Maybe I should just describe what it's like to kiss you and he'll die of envy over never having found his own pushy blond."

"What do you think the 'power' is supposed to be if you don't believe it is love?" Kurapika asked after they both shared a small laugh; some of the tension that had filled the room since Azalea had read the first letter aloud fading.

"I'm not certain; but I do have a few of ideas. One possibility is that it could be one of the Potter Family Abilities; of which there are three. The first ability is that of a dual inner nature; all Potters have two animals that represent who they are – the first one represents their inner child and the second one represents their soul. The second ability is the Potter Luck; no matter how desperate or dire a situation seems, a Potter can almost always find an advantage to use that will give them the upper hand at the last second – this ability has been known to fail on occasion though. The last ability is the only one I know nothing about; I was never able to find any information on what it was called or what it could do."

"The next possibility has to do with my mother's family but I know even less about them than I do about my father's family. Up until my second interview with Chairman Netero after the Fourth Phase, I was told that my mother was a muggleborn witch; meaning that she was born to two non-magical parents," Azalea explained as she twisted in her chair and summoned her Hunter's Portfolio from the mess in the living room with a snap of her wrist. She caught it mid-air, opened it up to pull out her great-grandfather's photo and license, and passed both items to Kurapika. "My great-grandfather was a wizard by the name of Gregory Evans and he was a Hunter; he was also friends with Chairman Netero until his death in forty-three."

"Chairman Netero told me that he recognized me because of my eyes; something about magic, blood, and only an Evans having eyes this color green. Beyond that, I know nothing about my great-grandfather's magical heritage. Chairman Netero told me a few stories while I was still in the infirmary but he never spoke of anything outside of what my great-grandfather was like when he was my age. I learned that I share my grandfather's quick and explosive temper though; something that Chairman Netero was rather quick to point out."

"The last possibility that might be the 'power the Dark Lord knows not' is Nen; which is why I've been so frustrated with my lack of progress on separating my magic into six distinct auras. I feel like I'm missing something important and there is no one I can ask because there aren't any magical Hunters out there aside from me; my great-grandfather was the last known magical Hunter and he's been dead for over fifty years."

"The only other thing it could have been was my wand. It was the brother wand to Voldemort's; meaning that they shared a similar core from the same source and that made them rather special as brother wands aren't able to fully work against each other. I have no idea why that is though as I've never really studied wand lore. There's no point in researching that avenue now anyway since that wand was burnt to a crisp over two months ago."

"What about that trick where you slide between two points with a flash of gold in less than a second? You used it when you blocked Killua's attack and again when you caught Mizuken's Nen bullet. Then there's the way your eyes glitter with gold sometimes when you're using your magic or when you're angry."

Azalea gave the blond a blank look before she intelligently asked, "Huh-what?"

"You moved more than twenty feet almost instantly and the only indication that you'd done anything was the brief flash of gold you left behind."

"Huh; that's weird. I never noticed."

"You never noticed that you jumped across the room in the blink of an eye?"

"Well, Killua and Gon are both pretty fast so I never thought anything of it. You're also far faster than I am."

"You reached Bodoro an instant before Killua did that day; you were faster than Killua and you never noticed it?"

"Nope, never noticed; I was too focused on stopping him. It could have been apparation but I can't be sure because I never officially learned how to apparate since I'm not yet seventeen. I wouldn't rule out accidental magic though since I was rather desperate both times you said you noticed me using it. The gold flash might have something to do with the color of my aura since it's different than yours and Mizuken's and maybe I used it unconsciously at the time."

"Okay, I can see that… but what about your eyes? I first noticed it when you faced that woman inside of the Trick Tower; towards the end of your match your eyes were glittering with gold dust that swirled like dust motes through a beam of sunlight. The amount of gold in your eyes varies for some reason and there were a handful of times when it appeared as if your irises were solid gold as they glowed with an inner light. That's been especially true when you lose your temper."

"I never knew they did that. I know nothing like that ever happened when I used my wand while I was still in school since someone would have said something to me about it at some point if my eyes had turned gold."

"How could you not know?"

"I don't typically stand in front of a mirror and cast spells and whatever it is that happens doesn't affect my vision. Do you always know when your eyes turn scarlet?"

"Yes, my vision is washed in red and I usually lose track of everything but my rage; including my reason at time."

"Do they only turn red when you are angry?" Azalea asked with tentative curiosity, her earlier distress and depression fading as her mind latched firmly onto the change of topic. "I know there have been times when they seemed to have just a slight reddish tinge to them but I don't recall you being angry those times."

"No, any intense emotion can turn them scarlet; the stronger the emotion the brighter the color, though some emotions do not affect them at all. Why do you ask?"

Azalea blushed a bit as she recalled exactly why she asked that particular question before she cleared her throat and mumbled, "Just curious."

"Are you sure that's wise, kitten?" Kurapika retorted as he arched an eyebrow. "You do know that curiosity killed the cat, right?"

"I've still got at least five of my nine lives left," Azalea replied as the left side of her mouth curled upwards just the slightest bit.

"Don't you mean eight?"

"No… as much as I might wish otherwise, I've come close to death a number of times and I only counted those where I was as good as dead instead of those where I just came close to being dead."

"I'm tempted to ask but I think I'm better off not knowing."

"You can ask if you really want to; I may leave out some details and gloss over others but after all you've done for me, I wouldn't feel right to deny you an answer entirely."

"Is that why you spoke of the prophecy?"

"Not exactly; that was more my mouth engaging before my brain could censor it and I was not exactly in my right mind earlier. At the time I just couldn't really bring myself to care about anything."

"I noticed and I must say that I much prefer it when you are in one of your playful moods as opposed to when you are drowning in the depths of despair. Why don't we change the subject again…? I'd much prefer to know what exactly it was that you were curious about when you were asking about my eyes."

"You would?"

"Very much so; I'm curious, you see."

"Um… curious about what, exactly?"

"Well… to start with, I'm curious as to why you blushed such a pretty shade of red when I asked you why you were asking me about my eyes."

Azalea sighed as another blush crept up the back of her neck and she glanced away before quietly admitting, "I was curious because your eyes are entrancing when they are scarlet but I never want to see them filled with cold fear or grief again and while the flames of your rage are beautiful, I'd rather not invoke your anger just to see your eyes burning with scarlet flames. It wouldn't be fair to you and I really don't want you angry with me."

"You are so adorable when you get all flustered, kitten."

"It's so not fair that you're practically impossible to fluster in return," Azalea countered with a pout as she snuck a glance at the blond.

"Someone sounds like she's had her tail tweaked."

Azalea laughed and shook her head as she pushed herself up out of the chair and glanced around at the messes she'd made earlier. She wrinkled her nose at the thought of cleaning it all up manually before she pursed her lips and cast a wandless Pack Spell. Even though it was overpowered, the spell worked rather well because of how much stuff was spread around the room and Azalea gave a little satisfied half-smile as she watched everything make its way back into her book bag. The only things that remained untouched were the letters and packages spread out over the table.

"I have got to get me one of those," Kurapika muttered as he watched everything pile itself into Azalea's book bag.

"I'd charm your messenger bag for you myself but I'd need a wand to cast the necessary spells because they are beyond my current level of proficiency in wandless casting. I can probably get you one though; I just don't know if the security spells would work for you. Nor do I know how soon I could get it and I'd undoubtedly get in trouble with the Ministry of Magic for giving it to you but as they say… in for a penny, in for a pound; and I've already broken the law just for using my magic in front of you and telling you about the wizarding world."

"What would happen if the Ministry of Magic knew you were breaking the law?"

"They'd erase every single memory you have of me before sending you on your way and then they'd snap my non-existent wand, expel me from Hogwarts, and undoubtedly throw me into Azkaban. They tried it once before and that was because I'd used magic in front of my cousin in order to save her life and mine and that was despite the fact that she was already aware of the wizarding world because she's a blood relative,."

"They can erase you from my life…?" Kurapika demanded as his eyes became tinged with red. "They could steal all of my memories of you? Even the ones that had nothing to do with magic?"

"Yes; they'd wipe them all in order to make certain that they didn't leave behind a single clue and since I'm the one that told you everything they'd use me as the identifying mark for the spell because any interaction we had could carry one of said clues."

"Unacceptable!" Kurapika yelled unexpectedly as his eyes burned scarlet and he lost control of his temper. "I will not allow anyone to steal away a single one of the precious memories of our time together! I will not allow them to make me forget you. Nor will I allow them to harm you because of anything you shared with me."

Azalea couldn't have looked away from Kurapika's eyes even if she wanted to (and she by no means wanted to) and she felt her heart rate quicken in response to the scarlet fire dancing within the blond's eyes. That part of the rage was on her behalf over the mere possibility that she could suffer repercussions because she'd chosen to trust Kurapika was a rather heady concept. So was the idea that their time together meant as much to the blond as it did to Azalea.

"The chances of them actually discovering what I've done are very small since they'd have had to see us interacting with their own eyes or heard about it directly from me," Azalea stated as she continued to hold Kurapika's gaze. "Aside from the dead Snake Charmer, there have been no other wizards present and given the Nen Abilities we've been learning about, Bourbon might not have even been a wizard anyway; so there has been no one who knows the laws I am bound by who has seen us and I have no plans to speak of you to those I know I can't trust. There's also the fact that they'd have to go through me before I allowed them to get within casting distance of you."

"Just so long as you understand that if anyone threatens to harm you, actually manages to harm you, helps someone to harm you, or they attempt to make me forget even a single second of the time we've spent together; I will kill them."

There was no time to reply as Kurapika grabbed hold of Azalea's shirt and pulled her forward to crush his lips against hers. It was a possessive and demanding kiss that stole Azalea's breath away even as it excited her. Eyes half lidded so that she could still watch Kurapika's burnings eyes, Azalea submitted willingly and curled her fingers into Kurapika's tabard in order to maintain her balance. After another minute, the eighteen year old pulled back and reached up with his free hand to cup Azalea's face before he leaned forward to kiss Azalea again; this time coaxing and encouraging Azalea to take control.

Azalea hesitated briefly as an endless stream of accusations streamed through her mind as she recalled each word of the handful of letters she'd read. Doubts filled her as she questioned her decisions until the memory of scarlet fire burned through her insecurities and washed away the remains of the broken bonds that had been shattered with words written in anger and haste. Reservations gone, Azalea took what she was being offered and then demanded more as she gave herself over completely to the kiss.

In that moment, Azalea stopped being a witch bound by the laws of an archaic society and became a Hunter bound only by the limitation she put on herself.

Instinct drove Azalea as she gave into the feelings that Kurapika stirred in her and her magic swirled around both of them as she completely let go of her inhibitions. Her hands slid up so she could wind her arms around Kurapika's neck before letting her fingers bury themselves in his blond hair. At the same time she felt the hand on her face slide around to cup the back of her neck while Kurapika's other hand released her shirt and slid around to rest on the small of her back as the older teen pulled her closer.

Kurapika moaned and Azalea growled softly in triumph as she felt the older teen tremble in her arms. There was something powerful in knowing that she could do to Kurapika what the blond did to her; in knowing that she wasn't the only one affected by their kisses. Several minutes later, Azalea pulled back just enough for the kiss to turn tender which allowed them both a moment to catch their breath. When Kurapika broke the kiss shortly after that, Azalea let out a small whine of protest that ended in a softly hummed purr as Kurapika's fingers massaged the back of her head.

"Are you feeling any better now, kitten?" Kurapika asked softly a few minutes later as he propped his chin on Azalea's head and Azalea hummed an affirmative as she leaned into the taller teen.

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong>

Prophecy - I did reword the original prophecy from the end of OoTP to reflect the fact that Azalea is a girl while still allowing for the prophecy to have potentially referred to either Neville or Azalea.

Letters - now, while the letters that were read aloud in addition to the other letters that Azalea actually read (except the one from the twins) sounded rather bad; please keep in mind that those letters were written back when Azalea first disappeared when everyone was angry and worried after learning that she'd left the Dursleys. Any apologies they might have written in later letters were not read. The letters will also have an impact on Azalea's future actions and plans.


	21. Auras x and x Elves

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Twenty-One: Auras x and x Elves<span>

Azalea stretched languidly beneath the covers before she snuggled back against Kurapika's side; enjoying the warmth and security of the older teen's presence. A small part of her wondered why she felt so comfortable beside the teen when they hadn't really known one another that long while another part of her wondered what she'd do when it was time for the two of them to part ways. Thinking of the day she'd have to say good bye to the blonde had Azalea turning her thoughts to just how much time she had left.

They'd arrived at Dolle Harbor on the thirtieth of December and the First Phase of the Exam had officially started on the first of January. The Final Phase of the Exam (and Azalea's brief death) had taken place on January sixteenth and Hisoka had attacked her almost a week and a half later on the twenty-fifth of January. The two of them had then become Mizuken's students on the sixth of February, with Azalea not officially meeting the man until the seventh. After roughly six weeks of training, it was now the twenty-third of March and that left Azalea with just over four months before she would need to head back to England and the war.

Sighing softly over how fast the time had been passing, Azalea let her thoughts return to her attempts to separate her magic into six separate auras as she absently drummed the fingers of her right hand Kurapika's chest. She knew that part of the problem was that she didn't truly know what a single aura felt like; oh she knew what it felt like when someone used their aura on her but that wasn't the same as actually knowing what it felt like to have nothing but that single aura. Another part of the problem was the fear that she'd lose her magic entirely if she broke it down in separate auras.

"What has you in such a pensive mood so early in the morning, kitten?" Kurapika inquired as he reached up to capture the hand that had been tapping out a rhythm of annoyance on his chest through the blankets that separated their bodies.

"I was getting frustrated because I only have four more months until I need to return to England and I still haven't found a way to separate the various auras out from my magic. Part of the problem is that I don't really know what it feels like to only have one aura; I've lived with my magic all my life, even if I've only known about it for around six years. I know what it feels like to have someone's aura come into contact with me but that isn't the same as knowing what that aura feels like to that person."

"You said that was only one part of the problem…"

"Yeah, another part is that I'm afraid I will lose my magic if I separate it into six auras. I realize that technically those six auras will always be my magic because they are what make up my magic but breaking my magic apart like that might change the way my magic works. It is my magic that makes me a witch and the thought of not being a witch any more frightened me because I feared what my friends would think. And while I'm no longer as frightened by the prospect of no longer being a witch, I still fear losing my magic. I know it sounds kind of silly but I can't help it."

"I don't think you're being silly for fearing what changing your magic might mean for you. I also think that there's no real need to worry about never getting your magic back since if you can learn to separate your magic into individual auras, then you should theoretically be able to forge them back into your magic since you are intimately aware of what your magic feels like. As you said, your magic has been part of you all of your life and you know exactly what it feels like. It will just take a bit of practice before you can switch freely between the two."

"When you put it that way, it makes me feel even sillier for being afraid in the first place, Kura," Azalea groused as she poked Kurapika in the side several times with her free hand.

"I'm happy to be of service, kitten," Kurapika laughed in response as he squirmed away from Azalea's fingers before he captured that hand as well and tugged her up so that the witch was laying half on his chest. "Now… what else do you think is stopping you from breaking down your magic?"

"Hmm, it is possible that part of the problem is the fact that I still don't have complete control over my magic. I've regained some control over the last six weeks but I still have a long ways to go. It would be much easier to bring my magic fully under control if I had a wand but there's also a chance that having a wand would make separating out the different auras even more difficult than it already is because using a wand reduces the flexibility of the user's magic in order to reproduce the same effect each time the user casts the same spell. Wandless magic, on the other hand, requires adaptability and willpower in order to consistently produce the same results each time you cast the same spell."

"Anything else…?"

"No, I don't think so."

"So, to summarize the problem; you have a lack of control which you are slowly regaining, a fear of losing part of yourself that we just partially dealt with, and the inability to relate to a single aura. Does that sound about right?"

"Yes."

"Sounds to me like we just need to figure out some way for you to have a chance to familiarize yourself with another person's aura enough for you to determine the differences been a single aura and your combined auras. I'm sure you could ask Mizuken for help…"

"No, he already said he couldn't help me. And I don't think I really trust him enough for him to able to help me," Azalea countered before she pushed herself up so she could meet Kurapika's gaze with determined emeralds. "I trust you though and you have far better control of your Ren than I do."

"What does that have to do with…?"

"You could use your Ren on me when we train and I could let your aura wash over me without using Ten so that I can feel the difference between your aura and mine."

"No, absolutely not; I could end up seriously hurting you!"

"No, you wouldn't."

"Zalea, if I made even a single mistake you could end up crippled for life, if it didn't kill you outright."

"My magic would protect me if I was ever in any true danger and we could start small," Azalea stated as she negligently waved her hand in dismissal. "You could use Ten while you're holding me and if that doesn't help then you can slowly start using Ren until your aura surrounds me."

"I really don't think that's a good idea."

"It's really no different than me trusting you not to seriously hurt me during our training sessions or when we're alone at night when you could easily put me in the same position that Hisoka had me in."

"Fine but I have one condition."

"What's that?"

"If I'm going to expose you to my aura so you can familiarize yourself with it, then you are going to do the same to me so that I can familiarize myself with your aura."

"I don't have enough control…"

"Then you damn well better work on it because the matter is not negotiable," Kurapika interrupted as he scowled up at Azalea. "Besides, knowing how your aura… how your magic feels could help me identify other magicals and allow me to better protect myself against them. And I trust you not to hurt me."

"Fine," Azalea huffed as she realized the blond had a made a good point.

"Good, one last thing, kitten; if you get hurt just once, I will stop the training."

"Just so long as you know the same applies if you get hurt by my magic."

"Fair enough. When did you want to start?"

"Can we start now?"

"I suppose now is fine," Kurapika reluctantly agreed with a soft sigh. "I'm not going to expose you to my aura for more than a minute the first time."

"That's fine," Azalea replied as she settled herself more comfortably on top of Kurapika's chest; letting her cheek rest over the blond's heart after she'd slipped free of the covers so that they wouldn't be in her way.

Kurapika grumbled about stubborn brats under his breath as he closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around Azalea while he concentrated on shrouding himself in his aura. Azalea unconsciously jerked and let out a sharp hiss as she felt the soothing warmth of Kurapika's body heat turn to burning fire in an instant as the blond used Ten; the older teen's arms preventing her from escaping completely. Azalea grit her teeth and forced herself to ignore the tingling of her nerve ends as she focused on what Kurapika's aura felt like instead of the uncomfortable heat. After a minute had passed, the heat vanished and Azalea was left panting as she collapsed onto the blond and shivered over how cold she felt now.

"Are you alright, Zalea?"

"Yeah, I just wasn't prepared for the heat," Azalea replied as she closed her eyes. "I'd actually forgotten how much it burned when Mizuken opened my aura nodes that day. Can you do it again and hold the shroud for five minutes this time? I'd almost managed to completely ignore the heat enough to actually feel what your aura felt like underneath the heat when you stopped."

"I will… but first it's your turn to use Ten."

"But…"

"Not negotiable."

"Fine. Brace yourself."

Azalea waited until Kurapika announced that he was ready before she called up her magic and let it slip out to form a shroud around her. Beneath her, Kurapika shivered the moment Azalea's magic brushed against him and his arms tightened briefly around her. After counting silently to sixty in her mind, Azalea pulled her magic back into her core and sat up a bit so she could make certain that Kurapika was alright.

"Kura…?"

"I'm fine, kitten; just feeling a little bereft."

"Huh?"

"Your aura felt nothing like Mizuken's aura felt when he'd awakened me. There was no feeling of burning heat invading me… just a cool heaviness that enveloped me. I felt the same thing last night when we'd kissed after our discussion about the prophecy; only this time it wasn't as intense."

"It was cold? That almost makes no sense… why would my aura be cold?"

"It wasn't exactly cold," Kurapika corrected as he loosened his arms enough to run one hand up and down Azalea's back over top of her shirt. "It was like stepping out of a hot shower into a steam filled bathroom on a warm day; you feel chilled because of the slight drop in temperature but once you adjust to the change you feel comfortable once more."

"What does your aura feel like when you wrap it around you in a shroud?" Azalea asked curiously as she relaxed against Kurapika and tried not to let the teen's hand distract her as it continued to stroke her back.

"Like a thick mist as it clings to my skin; only warm."

"Mist…? And you said my aura felt heavy? I wonder… Can you…?"

"Yes, but I'm only going to hold it for two minutes this time; not five. I'm not going to risk hurting you."

"I'll be fine if you hold it for five full minutes, it didn't actually hurt; it was just uncomfortable."

"Zalea…"

"I'm not made of glass, Kura."

"You are a stubborn little brat and I'm beginning to believe that you are made of pure contrariness."

Azalea laughed as she pushed herself up enough to gaze down at Kurapika's face before she boldly stole a kiss from the older teen. The witch soon forgot all about getting the older teen to expose her to his aura again for a full five minutes as she got lost in the kisses they shared. The next thing she knew, Kurapika was kicking her out of bed and ordering her to get started on her morning exercises with him joining her a minute later. Once they'd finished with that, the two of them headed out to the kitchen for breakfast.

"What did you want to do with all of this junk?" Kurapika inquired as he waved his hand at the untouched boxes and letters scattered about the table and floor.

"Anything that is not from the twins can go back in the box; I'm going to send it all back. I'll keep what the twins sent me though; they were the only ones that didn't condemn me for leaving to train."

"Are you sure you want to do that, Zalea?"

"Absolutely; I'm done bending over backwards to please others."

"You're not even going to read the rest of the letters?"

"Nope, I will read nothing that is not from Fred or George. I don't need or want to know how many more times they can cut me to the quick and try to guilt trip me into believing that I was in the wrong for wanting to find a way to survive the damn prophecy. Nor will I let their guilt and empty apologies sucker me back into trusting them again when they will inevitably break my trust the next time I do something they don't like or get something they can't have."

"So long as you are certain; I would not want you to have any regrets later."

"I'm certain," Azalea replied as she carefully sorted through the boxes as she put anything that didn't have Fred and George's names or their Triple W logo on the outside back into the box everything had come in.

The only exceptions were her sixth year Hogwarts letter, her O.W.L. results from the Ministry, the box of newspaper articles, and a plain wrapped box with a letter attached to it that had her name written on it in a familiar and much despised scrawl. Snape may have been a git of the highest order but he'd at least never once changed how he'd treated Azalea. Azalea could therefore see what the man had to say to her before deciding on whether or not she'd keep the package the man had sent. Once everything was packed up, Azalea set the box off to one side so she could make a light breakfast for herself and Kurapika.

"We have an hour before we go for our run," Kurapika stated after the meal. "Are you going to meditate like you usually do or are you going go through everything you left out?"

"I'm going to go through this stuff first," Azalea answered as she picked up the package and letter from Snape and casually broke the seal on the parchment. "Starting with seeing why Snivellus felt the need to go out of his way to write me a letter and send me a package. Would you like me to read his letter out loud so you can hear what the caustic man has to say?"

"It's up to you."

Azalea nodded, unfolded the short piece of parchment, and cleared her throat before reading…

_Miss Potter,_

_Congratulations, your level of arrogance has finally surpassed that of your father's but I  
>find that I am not surprised; I fully expected you to pull something like this eventually. <em>

_You have also managed to drive the Dark Lord's anger to new heights and I find myself  
>lamenting your abysmal skills in Occlumency now that the Headmaster foolishly entrusted<br>you with the knowledge of the prophecy that the Dark Lord still actively seeks. _

_Knowing that your skill in potions is nearly as hopeless as your level of common sense, I  
>have sent with this letter a well stocked Professional Healer's Kit and a couple of potions<br>that will save your life when you inevitably screw up yet again. _

_I have also sent you the sixth year potions text since you somehow managed to cheat on  
>your tests to receive an Outstanding O.W.L. in Potions. I suggest you read the book and<br>study the potions in it if you intend to take Potions once you return from your foolish lark  
>because I will be testing you extensively and I will be much more difficult to please than<br>the senile examiner that administered your O.W.L. test._

_Professor Snape_

"You weren't kidding when you called him caustic," Kurapika murmured as he scowled at the letter in Azalea's hand.

"Actually, that was almost nice," Azalea countered as she stared down at the letter in shock. "He almost complimented me there a time or two. He also sent me a rather expensive gift that is not only practical but one that could mean the difference between life and death. That was on top of acknowledging my right to take his class and making certain I am fully prepared to continue my studies when I return. He also warned me that Voldemort is angry and looking to use our connection to influence me again; though it's odd that he hasn't done so since the end of the Hunter Exam."

"If you say so," Kurapika countered skeptically. "And what connection are you speaking about?"

"The cursed scar on my forehead has some kind of connection to the Dark Lord because that's where he supposedly tried to kill me when I was a baby. Whenever he is near me, my scar hurts and since he regained a body he's been able to send me visions, influence my nightmares, and when he feels a strong emotion I can usually feel it as well. When that happens, my scar starts to hurt, turns an angry red and the skin around it swells, and when it is particularly bad the scar itself splits open. It's not bothered me once since… well since just before the final task, I think."

"I pretty much forgot all about that scar since it has nearly faded completely away," Kurapika mused as he leaned closer to inspect Azalea's forehead.

"Faded away…?" Azalea echoed as she reached up to run a finger across her scar. "Weird. It's never done that before."

"Seeing that scar split open and bleed was creepy. I much prefer it to stay invisible. Anyway, it's almost time for our run? Are you going to open the packages you left out now or did you want to start early today?"

"You won't hear me complaining about the scar not being quite so visible and I'll look the rest of the stuff after lunch. I do have one other thing I need to take care of before we go for our run though."

"What's that?"

"You'll see; just try not to scream when they show up and if one of them insults you, just ignore him."

"Uh… what?"

Azalea smirked as she turned away from the confused blond and addressed the air beside her, "Dobby! Kreacher!"

Two loud pops one right after the other heralded the arrival of the two house elves and Azalea snickered when Kurapika jumped in his chair before leaning forward to intently observe the two beings.

"The great Missus Harriet Potter is finally calling her Dobby!" the elf with the large green eyes and mismatched attire greeted as he threw himself on Azalea.

"Nasty little mudblood spawn calls for Kreacher… oh how mistress would wail to know Kreacher is forced to serve the impure wench thanks to the no good traitorous master's cruelty… and poor Kreacher is forced to appear in front of nasty little magicless vermin too."

"Enough, Kreacher!" Azalea roared as she surged up out of her chair; displacing a now wide-eyed Dobby. "I hereby order you to never again insult Sirius; I will not tolerate you speaking ill of my godfather whether I can hear you or not. I also order you to stop insulting muggles and muggleborns. Do you understand!?"

"Kreacher understands, ungrateful mistress."

"You are to address me as James or Master James when you speak to me outside of the wizarding world, Kreacher," Azalea ordered as she dropped wearily back into her chair and scowled at the rather nasty tempered elf. "For now, go stand with your nose in the corner until I call you; I need to speak with Dobby."

"Zalea…?"

"I'll explain in a bit, Kurapika," Azalea answered as she glanced at the now frowning blond before she turned her attention back to the now nervous Dobby. "Hi, Dobby, I'm sorry I ignored you while I dealt with Kreacher. Fred and George said you were looking for me but they never said why."

"Missus Harriet Potter went off without saying goodbye to her Dobby. Dobby couldn't find his Missus Harriet Potter and Dobby does not know what to do if Missus Harriet Potter isn't at Hogwarts."

"Please call me James when I'm not around other magicals, Dobby; the people I deal with now don't know that I'm a girl or a witch," Azalea requested as she digested Dobby's short speech. "And I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye to you before I left. I had a lot of things to do and didn't have much time to say goodbye to anyone before my ship set sail. Why would it matter if I was at Hogwarts or not though?"

"Dobby is supposed to be taking care of his Missus Har… of James sir and Dobby can't take care of Missus Har… James sir if she is not in Hogwarts where Dobby can find her."

"Take care of me…? I thought Dumbledore hired you to work at the castle with the other elves?"

"Yes, Headmaster Dumbledore was hiring Dobby to work in the kitchen and clean the common rooms but Dobby is only working at Hogwarts to stay close to his Missus Har… James sir."

"Why though? I mean, you're a friend and I like seeing you but why do you need to stay close to me?"

"Dobby not wanting Missus Harriet Potter to be mad at Dobby."

"I promise I won't get mad; I just want to understand."

"Dobby is forming partial bond with Missus Harriet Po… with James sir when James sir is freeing Dobby from nasty family and Dobby is needing to watch over James sir and help her keep her secrets. Dobby wanted a proper bond with Missus Har… James sir but James sir is so happy that Dobby is free that Dobby not want to make James sir sad."

"But… but don't you want to be a free elf?"

"No. Dobby only wanted to be free from nasty family. Dobby asks for paying from other families because Dobby only wants one family but no work means no magic and no food for Dobby. So Dobby had to find work close to Missus… James sir so Dobby could work and watch over James sir."

"What family was it you wanted to work for, Dobby? Did they not want you?"

"Dobby wants to be Potter elf but James sir wants Dobby be free elf. House elves need to belong to a family to use their magic. Dobby sneak partial bond with Missus… James sir but partial bond does not help if Dobby not near James sir."

"Why didn't you just tell me? I wanted you to be happy and I thought being free made you happy."

"Does that mean James sir will let Dobby bond with James sir properly?" Dobby half asked and half demanded before he glared at Kreacher's back where the other elf was still standing with his nose in the corner as instructed. "Dobby will be a proper good elf for Missus… for James sir; not like the nasty Kreacher."

"Is that what you really want, Dobby?"

"Oh yes," Dobby replied enthusiastically as he bobbed his head up and down rapidly, making his ears flop comically.

"Then I guess it is alright for you to form the bond," Azalea replied after giving the matter a moment's consideration; the sixteen year old for once not caring what Horatio might have thought if he'd known she was 'enslaving' Dobby.

The little elf threw himself at Azalea once more and hugged her for all he was worth and Azalea felt a small tug on her magic that she suspected was the elf initiating the full bond. She smiled fondly down at the elf and hugged him in return before she sat back up so she could introduce Dobby to Kurapika.

"Now that that's settled, I'd like to introduce you to someone, Dobby; Kurapika here is a very close friend of mine. Kura, this is Dobby; he's an old friend of mine."

"It is nice to meet you, Dobby," Kurapika greeted with a smile as the elf glanced over to the blond.

"Dobby is happy to meet Master James sir's new friend," Dobby replied as he smiled at Kurapika in return; the elf referring to Azalea as Master James without fail now because of her earlier request for her identity and gender to remain a secret when she was not in the wizarding world became an order in his mind the moment the bond took hold of his magic.

"You don't have to call me master, Dobby."

"Dobby wants to call Master James sir master and Master James sir said he wants his Dobby to be happy."

"You can't argue with logic like that, kitten," Kurapika laughingly pointed out.

"No one asked the peanut gallery," Azalea grumbled in reply. "Anyway, Dobby, could you do me a couple of favors while I deal with Kreacher?"

"Master James sir doesn't have to ask. Dobby is happy to follow Master James sir's orders."

"Ah, tonight I'm going to need you to help me better understand how the bond between house elf and witch works so I don't make any mistakes," Azalea sighed before she shook her head and returned her attention to Dobby. "In the mean time, please take the box that is sitting on the counter and deliver it to Fred and George Weasley; if they ask why I am sending a bunch of stuff back unopened, tell them to read the open letters. After that, please pick me up some more owl treats for Hedwig as I'm almost out; you have my permission to take the money out of my vaults at Gringotts to pay for them. You can then have the rest of the day to take care of anything you need to do and I will call you when I am finished with my training so we can talk."

"Dobby will take care of everything, Master James sir," Dobby enthusiastically replied before he grabbed the indicated box and popped away.

"Interesting fellow," Kurapika stated as he stared at the place Dobby was last standing for several seconds.

"Remind me to tell you about how I first met him later. Right now, I have to deal with Kreacher and then we can go for our run. Kreacher, come here please."

"Master James calls for Kreacher."

"Yes; you are to return to Grimmauld Place and start cleaning the house properly. You are to stop causing trouble for the members of the Order of the Phoenix that are using the house but you have my permission to ignore their orders if they contradict my orders. You are to make certain that Dumbledore's people do not throw away, destroy, or steal anything from the house; if you have to, lock all of the valuables up in the attic or in one of the unused rooms. I also want you to spy on any meetings they hold in the house and report to me when the meeting is over."

"Additionally, you are to always answer me truthfully when I ask you a question or when you are reporting what you learn during those meetings. The final order I'm going to give you tonight is to never, under any circumstances, approach or speak to anyone that bears the Dark Mark or serves the Dark Lord. You are also to never share any of my secrets with anyone that is in any way associated with the Dark Lord or his Death Eaters nor are you to share my secrets or my whereabouts with anyone associated with Dumbledore. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Kreacher understands."

"Good. I will call you if I need anything from you or if I need to give you new orders."

Kreacher bowed and left without another word and Azalea grimaced as she'd much rather have ordered the elf to drop dead after the part the stupid elf had played in Sirius's death. Only the fact that she now knew that Sirius had been dying already helped her to set aside her anger and deal with the elf fairly; after all, she was no Malfoy and she'd never order an elf to harm itself for any reason.

"What exactly were those creatures and why did they call you master?" Kurapika inquired as the two of them ducked out of the tent to start their morning run now that Azalea had finished dealing with both elves.

"They are called house elves and they consider themselves servants of sorts as they live to cook and clean for the family that they are bound to. Most elves think it is a terrible thing to be set free… actually, it appears that all elves think it is a bad thing to be free since Dobby just bonded himself to me of his own free will. If you want to know more about house elves, then you can listen in tonight when I talk to Dobby since I don't really know all that much about them. As for why they called me master, Dobby just bonded himself to me and I inherited Kreacher from my godfather after he died."

"I think I'll take you up on that offer; it sounds like it will be an interesting conversation."

"Or one big headache," Azalea countered with a soft laugh as they trotted side by side through the forest. "All of the house elves I met to date are more than a little crazy and Kreacher is an example of just how nasty they can be if they put their mind to it and he was actually pretty tame this time."

"You don't really like him much, do you?"

"He's partially responsible for my godfather's death and I know part of it has to do with the way my godfather treated him and the beliefs of my godfather's mother, who was the elf's mistress prior to her death, but that doesn't make it any easier to accept. He's also a rather foul mouthed little elf that will insult almost any one alive if given half a chance. I'd set Kreacher free so he could find a family he'd be happier with but he knows far too much that could give Voldemort an advantage; which is why I gave him the orders I did."

"Ah, I'd have been tempted to kill him if I was in your shoes."

"I was tempted on more than one occasion but it is far more of a punishment to allow him to live since he has no choice but to serve me; a halfblood witch from a notoriously light-sided family – though I suppose the halfblood part is no longer true. The Black family, on the other hand, is a family of pureblood bigots that has long been considered as dark as their name; my godfather one of the few exceptions. In fact, Sirius's parents had unofficially disowned him when he was sixteen because he didn't follow the family philosophy and refused to serve the Dark Lord."

"What exactly constitutes a light or dark wizard or witch?"

"Dark wizards and witches are those individuals that torture, maim, and kill in their quest for personal gain while light wizards and witches are those that fight against the dark wizards and witches; though that doesn't mean they are all saints. Most of the wizarding population actually falls into the third category of neutral or gray wizards and witches; who are those magicals that don't want anything to do with the dark wizards and witches but aren't brave enough to fight alongside of the light wizards witches. At least that is what we are taught at Hogwarts."

"That would make you a light witch, correct?"

"I suppose, though I think I've started to consider myself as a Hunter first and a witch second."

"Nothing wrong with that as far as I can tell, kitten."

"I know at least a dozen people back in England that would disagree with you."

"Bah, they're not important."

"I never said they were."

"Less talking, more training!" Mizuken ordered as the two of them trotted back into camp at that precise moment.

Azalea and Kurapika turned to one another and grinned as they rolled their eyes simultaneously even as they complied with the order. Azalea's good mood stayed with her all through the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon; her frustration only returning during her Nen practice when she still hadn't managed to separate her magic into six auras. She cheered up again after supper when she discovered that Dobby had made her an extra large treacle tart for desert; a treat she'd not had since the End of Term Feast at the end of her disastrous fifth year – and she hadn't been able to enjoy it at the time due to Sirius's death.

The rest of the night passed rather pleasantly as she listened to Kurapika thoroughly interrogate Dobby about house elves while the two teens took turns feeding each other bites of treacle tart as they cuddled on the couch. Azalea had asked a few questions about the bond that Dobby had formed with her before letting Kurapika take over the questioning; letting Dobby know in passing that Kurapika could be considered family (which meant that Dobby was obligated to follow the blond's orders and answer his questions so long as the orders didn't go against Azalea's orders and the questions weren't prying into Azalea's secrets).

It was a rather informative discussion for the two teens as they learned quite a bit about the wizarding society as a whole in addition to what they learned about house elves.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> _First up, I know this chapter is two days late; Firefox had issues with two days ago and I don't use any other browsers. I ended up getting frustrated since I was trying to get into my account for over eight hours and finally just walked away from the computer. I also just didn't feel like updating yesterday. It sounds rather selfish but there are times when I just don't feel like doing much of anything and forcing myself to write doesn't work out well. _

_Anyway, I've updated now and wanted to let my readers know that I will be modifying my update schedule from this point forward; posting just one chapter per day rather than two. My reasoning for changing how many stories I update a day is to give me time to actually answer your reviews; meaning that I will update one story per day and then reply to the reviews of the story I updated the previous day instead of updating a second story. ~ Jenn_


	22. Progress x and x Pranks

**Disclaimer:** _All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else. _

**AN:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Twenty-Two: Progress x and x Pranks<span>

Dobby's constant presence from his day of bonding forward turned out to be something of a godsend as the elf took over all cooking and cleaning duties after he was introduced to Mizuken the very next morning. That gave Azalea more time for training and saw her new diet being consistently followed after Kurapika had given instructions to the eager-to-please elf. Dobby could also easily replenish their supplies which meant that they didn't have to halt their training just to go into town to buy food or other necessities any longer.

Quite a bit of the worry that Azalea had had about what was happening back in England was put to rest too as the elf acted as an instant messenger between Azalea and the twins (the witch unwilling to risk Hedwig's life a second time by owling them again).

The rest of March would pass by fairly quickly in a blur of training for the two teens.

In addition to familiarizing themselves with each other's auras, Azalea's physical training was taken to the next level as Kurapika taught her the basic aikido stances. She also started carving the oak branch to form her bokken now that she'd improved enough to convince Kurapika that she knew what she was doing. Kurapika, on the other hand, was instructed to familiarize himself with chains (his chosen conjuration) and learned that his aura changed to that of a Specialist when his eyes turned scarlet (his new ability allowing him to use all types of Nen while his eyes were scarlet).

That was on also on top of their regular Nen training, Azalea's wandless casting practice, the research that Azalea had started on the animagus transformation, and reading through the potions text that Snape had given her (a book that used to belong to someone that called himself the Halfblood Prince).

A short break in their training occurred on the fourth of April at Azalea's demand; the witch had wished to celebrate Kurapika's eighteenth birthday (and the official demise of his childhood according to Azalea). Mizuken left the two of them to their own devices as the man headed into town to for the day to gather information and give Chairman Netero an update on the two teens' progress. Dobby was given the day off as well when Azalea sent the elf to pester the twins and make certain that Kreacher was behaving himself.

The first thing Azalea had done was to fly Kurapika to a rather remote lake in the area where the two of them spent the morning exploring the lake shore and playing in the water. A picnic lunch (packed by Dobby the night before) complete with a small cake was eaten on a small rocky outcrop in the center of the lake. The two of them then flew back to camp where Azalea gifted Kurapika with a medium blue messenger bag with bronze trim and woven with an undetectable Extension Charm, an Impervius Charm, an Indestructible Charm, a Featherweight Charm, and an anti-theft charm (Dobby had purchased the bag at Azalea's request a few days earlier).

The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring their physical relationship as they progressed from simple kissing to light petting above the waist with Azalea unbinding her breasts for Kurapika for the first time (the night of Hisoka's attack not counting in either of their minds). And while she didn't remove her undershirt (the young witch far too self conscious about her underdeveloped body), she did not stop Kurapika when he slid his hands beneath her shirt to cup her petite breasts with calloused palms while she straddled his stomach. That night would also mark the first of many nights that the two of them slept beneath the same covers as Azalea shyly invited Kurapika to join her when they turned in for the night.

Two days after Kurapika's birthday, Azalea would split her magic into six distinct auras for the first time. She'd been sitting in the center of camp meditating while practicing Ten after taking a single sip of _Felix Felicis_ (also known as the luck potion and one of the rare potions that Snape had gifted her with) at the time and her thoughts had wandered off track as she mentally compared the differences she'd noticed between the way her aura felt in comparison to Kurapika's aura. The most notable difference between the two was the density; Azalea's magic was heavier and thicker while his aura was lighter and thinner. It was like comparing water to honey or sap. Then there was the difference in temperature; a single aura felt hot (like boiling steam) whereas her magic merely felt warm (like a hot bath).

Following on the heels of that thought, Azalea for some reason found herself thinking about the processes of distilling and filtering essences to remove impurities or excess water; something she'd read the night before out of her potions text. For the briefest of moments, she wondered if it would be possible to filter and distill her magic to separate the auras from each other. That led her to wondering what she'd use as a filter and how she'd get her magic hot enough to 'boil' so that it passed through the filter.

'_My core holds the unfiltered magic, my blood carries the magic (my aura) to the surface, my skin acts as a barrier or maybe a filter, and the ability to use Ten would be the catch basin,_' Azalea mused as she considered the matter. '_So, if I could apply heat to my core to make my magic boil, my magic would leave my core and travel through my blood in a mesh of auras that could be filtered through my skin and collected into the different groups the moment they leave my body by using Ten._'

She experimented with the concept the moment she thought about it and for a split second, her magic split into six distinct auras; causing her normal aura to turn silvery white as it spiked sharply before returning to gold. Azalea had noticed the instant her aura had split; she'd felt her magic shatter around her and she'd instantly lost her concentration because the feeling was so alien. Kurapika and Mizuken had both immediately noticed the change as well as the tension in the air had spiked sharply at the same time as Azalea's aura had spiked.

She'd dropped out of her meditative state with a sharp cry of confusion and curled in on herself as she scrubbed at her arms and face to get rid of the strange feeling. Once she'd calmed down a bit and thought about what she'd felt, she realized her latest idea had actually worked and then she was up and dancing about the clearing while crowing happily. Kurapika laughed at her and Mizuken was looking rather smug but Azalea didn't care; she'd finally made a bit of progress after nearly a month of frustration and failure.

All of her other training for the day was put on hold as Mizuken had her practice breaking her magic apart again and again until she could maintain the separation for a full five seconds. It would actually take her three days before she could hold magic in a separated state for a full second, let alone five seconds, as it had taken her quite a bit of time to feel comfortable with the feeling of breaking her magic apart. Azalea threw herself into her training with renewed vigor over the minor success and pushed herself harder than before as she strove to make up for the time she'd lost while she'd been stuck.

Her progress would rapidly advance in leaps and bounds from that point forward as her control over her wandless magic improved right alongside her ability to separate her magic into auras (the process of splitting her magic into auras and maintaining the split taking considerable control to accomplish). Her improved physical health played a fairly large part in her progress as well; her growing stamina and strength meant she didn't tire out quite so quickly. It was her speed and flexibility that had improved the most though as she didn't really have the build to become a powerhouse.

By the end of April, Azalea would be able to maintain the separation of auras for up to ten minutes and Mizuken deemed her ready to start the next phase of her Nen training; to bring forth a single aura while holding the other five auras back. The concept sounded far more difficult than separating her magic into the individual auras but it was actually easier because she only had to pull one aura out at a time and maintain it instead of attempting to maintain six at once. The hard part was being able to identify the differences between the types of individual auras so that she could pull up a specific aura on command.

In order to help her find any variations in the feel of the individual auras, Azalea would pull forth one aura and use water divination to identify the type of aura she was projecting. She'd then spend an hour or two submersed in that aura as she carried on with her other training exercises while she sought to identify every aspect of the aura and commit the smallest of nuances of each aura to memory. It would take her until the middle of May before she could successfully identify a specific aura and call it forth from her magic consistently.

Azalea finished making her bokken about the same time. Both wooden swords looked much like Kurapika's bokken though hers were slightly shorter than his swords. She'd also chosen to stain the blades of both swords crimson and the hilts gold as a small tribute to her Gryffindor heritage.

Throughout the rest of May, Azalea walked around with a wide assortment of bruises as she learned how to use the wooden swords properly; most of them from her own clumsiness as she hit herself with her own swords. The blood, sweat, and tears that Kurapika had promised her she'd experience during her training were finally brought to bear during that time as she was finally well and truly out of the danger zone when it came to her health; her body stronger than ever now thanks to the weeks of training Kurapika had put her through on top of her new diet.

On the thirty-first of May, Azalea was given a day off of training as Mizuken was going to concentrate on helping Kurapika with his conjured chains now that the blond had reached the point where he could form the first link of the chains using his aura. It was the perfect opportunity for the witch to slip off into the forest to practice her animagus transformation; something she'd not actually told Mizuken or Kurapika she'd been working on, since she wanted to surprise the blond with her form. She didn't go too very far from the camp; just far enough that she wouldn't be stumbled upon unexpectedly.

She then spent all morning meditating and communing with the kitten that represented her inner child as she'd chosen to focus on the small cat first, rather than the more powerful tiger. Unlike her father and godfather, who'd both been very dependent upon their wands when they learned how to transform, Azalea hadn't needed years of practice in order to reach the point where she was ready to transform; all she needed was complete control of her magic.

Her Nen training had actually helped speed the process along as she'd learned far more about her magic in the past three months than she'd learned through five years of schooling; therefore allowing her a greater degree of control once she'd tamed the wildness that had plagued her core since the bindings had been removed. Training herself how to cast spells wandlessly over the past eleven months had been a big help as well.

Just as the sun reached its zenith, Azalea wrapped her magic around her and embraced the kitten which in turn had her embracing her inner child and her body began shrinking around her. When the transformation was over, a mostly white calico cat with messy patches of rusty red and pitch black sat in the middle of the forest in Azalea's place. Azalea let out a rumbling purr of pride as she flexed her front paws to run her sharp claws through the dirt, leaves, and grass beneath her feet.

It would take her several hours to get used to her new feline senses. The plethora of scents she could smell and taste in the air were astounding; some of them far worse than any potion ingredient she'd had the displeasure of cutting up while others were heady and intoxicating. The cacophony of sounds that assaulted her ears was disorienting, on the other hand, as the sounds seemed to come at her from all directions at ten times the volume that had reached her human ears. And the feel of even the slightest breeze teasing her fur and whiskers was both irritating and exhilarating as it almost reminded her of flying.

After she'd adjusted to her enhanced senses, she spent the rest of the afternoon getting used to walking on four feet and learning how to control her tail and ears; those muscles unfamiliar to the witch. She was in seventh heaven the entire time as she gamboled between the trees chasing leaves, bugs, scents, and sunbeams; the witch allowing her inner child to take complete control as she gave into the urge to simply play. Once she felt comfortable in her form, she headed back towards the camp so she could show off her new trick to Kurapika (and prank him for good measure to in order to get him back for teasing her who knew how many times).

She reached the camp just as the sun finished setting and she paused at the edge of the forest as she watched Kurapika drop to his knees in exhaustion; the older teen had worked hard all day to form a single foot long length of chain. Lifting her nose, the witch turned cat caught the scent of blood, sweat, and tears drifting on the air and she knew that the blond had pushed himself even harder than he pushed her and it made her heart ache with grief and swell with pride at the same time; something that completely confused her.

Shaking away her conflicting emotions, Azalea rose gracefully to her feet once more as she boldly slipped into camp and began stalking her prey as her ears caught Mizuken's voice announcing that Kurapika was finished with his training for the day. The moment that she was within pouncing range, Azalea dropped into a low crouch as her tail lashed wildly in anticipation. Her ears flicked back and forth several times as she listened to Mizuken puttering about the camp before she let her hind quarters rise up while her entire body began wriggling and her eyes glittered green and gold as she prepared to attack.

Seconds later, she threw herself forward with a mighty lunge and landed right on Kurapika's unprotected stomach like a rock before spring boarding off in the next instant as the teen yelped in surprise. Azalea sneezed three times in a row in feline laughter as she darted behind a clump of tall grass and rolled vigorously back and forth in the dirt in satisfaction and amusement. She then rolled back up onto her feet and shook out her coat before she snuck a peek around the edge of her hiding spot and noticed that Kurapika's back was currently facing her while Mizuken was sitting off to one side laughing at the blond who was currently searching for his attacker.

Seeing her chance, Azalea crept forward slowly so as not to disturb the grass before she dashed forward and climbed up Kurapika's back to nip at his ear before she darted down his chest to escape his hands as he yelped again. This time she didn't go far before she spun around, arched her back, and hopped sideways as she stared at the scowling blond with glittering eyes full of mirth. After she had sneezed out another feline laugh, Azalea sat down and rubbed her nose with a paw before she calmly draped her tail around her front feet and stared Kurapika in the eye.

She ended up losing the staring contest when Kurapika cheated; he'd pulled free a long blade of grass and began dragging it slowly back and forth in front of his legs and she'd been unable to resist following the blade of grass with her eyes. She dropped down into a crouch and crept forward as her eyes swept right and left with each circuit of the grass. The moment she memorized the grass tip's path, she wriggled like a fish on a hook before she pounced on the blade of grass.

When it escaped her still somewhat clumsy paws, she darted after it without any hesitation and before she knew it she was running round and round Kurapika as he dragged the grass around him and passed it from hand to hand. It wasn't until she heard Kurapika laughing at her antics that she realized what she was doing and she skidded to a halt and glared at him before she dashed away. She couldn't believe she'd allowed her feline instincts to completely take her over like that and it was more than a little embarrassing.

Azalea stopped her mad dash near the camp fire, calmly sat down with her back pointedly facing the older teen, and proceeded to groom her paws and face as if the whole thing never happened. She flicked her right ear in Kurapika's direction when she heard him laugh again and then turned to lick her shoulder while glaring at him through half lidded eyes. She then remembered the first time he'd called her kitten and how he'd teased her about her purring and snuggling with him and her promise to use him as a scratching post in return.

Rising back up onto her feet, Azalea stretched out her muscles before sauntering slowly towards the teen who was something more than a friend but not exactly her boyfriend and not yet her lover (though she freely admitted to herself that that was what she wanted him to be). She stopped just out of reach of his hands and sat back down as she stared up into his eyes once more. He tried to tempt her with the grass blade again but she ignored it this time as she focused on her goal. The moment he gave up trying to get her to play and broke eye contact with her, she got up to walk closer and brushed her chin against his knee.

The instant he tried to pet her, she danced back out of his reach and sat back down. She repeated that game for close to twenty minutes before he gave up trying to pet her and once he did, she climbed up into his lap. Azalea then head butted him in the stomach before curling up on his right thigh. The moment she felt his hand draw near to her in yet another attempt to pet her; she unsheathed her claws and pricked his leg. She heard Mizuken laughing again while Kurapika muttered out an apology and dropped his hand and Azalea began purring smugly as she flexed her claws a couple of times before retracting them.

Eventually, she forgot about paying him back for all of his teasing as she grew drowsy and snuggled up closer to him as she closed her eyes and purred louder. This time, when he reached up to pet her, she allowed it and soon lost herself to the mind numbing pleasure of having her back and tail stroked while fingers gently scratched her behind her ears. It felt heavenly and her human mind couldn't help but mentally blush over the fact that she was enjoying feeling his hands running all over her body while her feline mind simply basked in the attention she was being given.

It wasn't until she felt hands wrapping around her to pick her up that Azalea snapped out of the daze she was in and dug her claws into Kurapika's leg in order to prevent him from displacing her from his lap. She felt a bit guilty when she heard him hiss in response to her claws hitting a particularly tender spot on his inner thigh but she refused to let go. The moment he let go of her, she relaxed her claws once more as she sat up to stare up at him.

"You're a cute and adorably sadistic little cat, I'll give you that, but I can't just sit here with you all night long. Besides, I already have a kitten and she's more than enough of a handful for me to keep track of," Kurapika stated with a sigh as he reached out to tap Azalea on her pink and white nose.

Azalea scrunched up her nose in response to the touch as she sat up and captured his hand with both paws while trying to fight the need to sneeze. The sneeze escaped a moment later and she soon found herself being held in midair as Kurapika had used the distraction to lift her from his lap. Azalea growled and flattened her ears back due to the uncomfortable position and the teen was quick to set her down on the ground. Narrowing her eyes as she watched him stand up; Azalea considered her options before she climbed up his leg and back to perch on his left shoulder.

"Hss… You're a stubborn little demon aren't you?"

Azalea purred smugly as Kurapika twisted his head to awkwardly glance at her. Mizuken snorted again from where he was lounging by the fire watching the two of them and Azalea wondered briefly if the man knew the cat was her before she dismissed the older Hunter as she nearly fell off Kurapika's shoulder when he started walking. Her claws dug into his collarbone as she gave off a plaintive mewl of agitation until Kurapika stopped moving and reached up to pull her from his shoulder.

She instinctively fought him until she realized that he was just moving her down to cradle her in the crook of his arm and she stopped fighting and started purring as she made herself comfortable against his chest. He carried her into the tent at that point and Azalea soon found herself unceremoniously dropped onto the middle of the kitchen table and she let out a loud yowl of complaint as she slipped and nearly smacked her chin on the table. She then made a beeline for the edge of the table with the intent of dropping down so she could change back only for her to get distracted by a bowl of milk being set down right in front of her.

Now, Azalea had always liked milk but it was not her favorite drink in the world; yet the moment the creamy scent wafting from the bowl hit her feline nose, she began salivating. She dove right into the bowl without any hesitation; going so far as to place both paws right in the middle of the dish as she greedily lapped up the milk with her little tongue, all the while purring like a motor boat.

"Someone was just a little hungry, I see," Kurapika laughed as he reached out and ran a finger down Azalea's spine a couple of times before leaving the room. "Maybe a full stomach will improve your disposition."

The witch turned cat just purred louder as she continued to guzzle the milk; not really paying attention to a word that the blond was saying. Far too soon, Azalea's tongue was scraping against the bowl as she sought to capture every single last drop. She then allowed her recently awakened feline instincts to take over as she began the tedious job of cleaning the milk from her paws and face.

She was feeling rather drowsy by the time she finished; her rather small tummy was pleasantly full and she was starting to grow tired from the long afternoon spent adjusting to her cat form and playing around with Kurapika earlier. She had also far exceeded her time limit on how long it was recommended to maintain the transformation the first time but Azalea didn't feel any of the discomfort that she'd been led to expect. Stretching languidly, Azalea decided that it was high time she reverted back to her human form.

Wanting to see the look on Kurapika's face the instant he realized that it had been her all along, Azalea the cat slipped down off the table and went searching for the blond. She nearly got stepped on when the teen in question strode out of the bedroom carrying his magical messenger bag wearing a worried frown as he strode towards the door. Azalea meowed loudly to grab Kurapika's attention and then sneezed in amusement when the older teen jumped, tripped over his own feet, and landed on his butt as he tried not to step on Azalea.

Azalea jumped up onto Kurapika's knee and sneezed again before she closed her eyes and purred. When she felt Kurapika's hands wrap around her in order to lift her off of him, Azalea automatically extended her claws in order to prevent the blond from displacing her yet again. She felt another flash of guilt when Kurapika winced and let out a hiss of pain as Azalea's sharp claws dug through the fabric into flesh. She mewled rather pitifully in apology the moment the hands released her and then Azalea sat up on her hind legs and transformed back to herself right on Kurapika's lap.

"Sorry, Kura; I can't completely control my instincts yet," Azalea apologized as she straddled the blond who was now gaping at her like a fish.

"But… but… _Zalea!?_ That was… you were… and you intentionally…"

"I did warn you once that I'd use you as a scratching post."

"You are an evil little demon cat! You intentionally clawed me; several times."

"Yeah, well, I took offense to you taking advantage of my feline nature and making me chase that piece of grass around you until I was practically dizzy while you sat there and laughed at me."

"You dive bombed me from out of nowhere and then climbed up my back as if it was a tree."

"At least I didn't attack your hair while you were laying down; it was mighty tempting, I might add, due to the way the strands were fluttering in the wind."

"I'm half tempted to start calling you demon cat instead of kitten. All joking aside; why didn't you turn back sooner? I was starting to get worried that something had happened to you."

"I fully planned on turning myself back the moment you dropped me on the table but then you went and stuck a bowl of milk under my nose and I got sidetracked."

"And the reason you didn't turn back while we were still outside; before you sank your claws into me?" Kurapika growled as he rolled them over and pinned Azalea to the floor.

"I didn't want Mizuken to see me transform and I was having fun annoying you; though I did feel bad when my claws would dig in deeper than I planned, I'm not very good at controlling them fully and a few times it was purely my feline instincts driving me," Azalea replied unashamedly before she transformed back into her cat form and slipped out from beneath Kurapika before changing back.

"So, what you are basically saying is that you were intentionally pranking me?" Kurapika asked casually as he climbed to his feet and dusted off his pants.

"Pranking is such a strong word…"

"Really? And just what word would you use to describe attacking me while disguised as a cat?"

"Hmm… training…?"

Azalea had only a split second's warning before Kurapika lunged towards her and she let out a short yelp as she dove to the side before scampering out of the hallway into the living room of the tent where there was more room. She then laughed as she sensed Kurapika give chase; her inner child cheering happily as the two of them played cat and mouse about the living room. Each time the blond was close to catching her; Azalea would slip free at the last second using her animagus form. Eventually, Azalea allowed herself to be caught when her long day finally caught up with her.

Kurapika tickled her mercilessly until she was gasping for breath and begging for him to stop. He then swept her up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom where he set her back on her feet and gave her a little push towards the bathroom as he told her to go take a shower because she smelled like she'd been rolling around in the dirt (which she had while in her cat form). Azalea stuck her tongue out at him but complied since she could feel dried sweat, dirt, and a few cat hairs clinging to her skin from the hours spent in her alternate form.

She didn't take a very long shower, spending just enough time beneath the water to wash away the dirt and wash her hair before she rinsed off, gave the shower a quick clean, and turned off the water. Azalea then dried herself and reached for a clean change of clothes (which she'd started keeping in the bathroom to avoid embarrassments like when she'd started her period near the end of the Fourth Phase and had been caught without her things) only to pause. After a moment's debate she slid on a clean pair of underwear before snagging one of Kurapika's longer shirts and slipping it on.

The button up white shirt dropped down to about mid-thigh on her and she blushed at her rather provocative reflection in the mirror. She then turned away from the mirror and left the bathroom before she changed her mind. Her choice in sleepwear caught Kurapika completely off guard when he looked up and Azalea blushed again as she fought against the sudden urge she had to run and hide in the bathroom once more. The appreciative glance the blond gave her once he got over his shock at seeing her dressed in so little made her forget all about how embarrassed she was and set the butterflies in her stomach to fluttering as it made her feel as if for the first time that she, herself, was truly desirable (rather than her fame or fortune).

The searing kiss he gave her on his way to take a shower left her feeling rather hot and bothered as she slid beneath the sheets with a silly grin on her face. Her long day caught up to her again at that point and she soon drifted off into a light sleep curled around her extra pillow while she waited for Kurapika to join her. Azalea woke up just long enough to ditch her pillow in favor of curling up against Kurapika when he crawled into bed beside her before she fell asleep once more as she let out a sleepy humming purr that drew a soft laugh from the eighteen year old.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>_Yep, I'm late again. Although, this time, it was because I got caught up in the update/upgrade they were doing to change the document manager update/format box or whatever they call it. Not sure if I like the new box or not. I was happy with the old one. Anywho, this chapter does not count towards today's update; so instead of just one story today, I will be updating three since I couldn't update yesterday. ~ Jenn_**  
><strong>


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